Ambarnath Shiv Mandir

The Shiv Mandir of Ambarnath is a historic 11th-century Hindu temple, at Ambarnath near Mumbai, in Maharashtra, India. It is also known as the Ambreshwar Shiva Temple, and known locally as Puratana Shivalaya. It is situated on the bank of the Waldhuni river, 2 km away from Ambarnath railway station (East). The temple was built in 1060 AD carved in stone. It was probably built by Shilahara king Chhittaraja, it may also have been rebuilt by his son Mummuni. Unusually, the sanctuary or garbhagriha is below ground, reached by some 20 steps down from the mandapa, and is open to the sky as the shikhara tower above stops abruptly at a little above the height of the mandapa, and was apparently never completed. It is in bhumija form, and if completed would have been close in form to the Udayesvara Temple also known as Neelkantheshwara temple in Udaipur, Madhya Pradesh, begun in 1059, and the Gondeshwar Temple at Sinnar.