Visit the Ancient and Historical Lord Hatkesh Temple at Sathod in Gujarat State in India

Nagars is one of the most educated and intelligent communities in India. It has been said that Nagars have the highest education and are mostly placed at a very high levels in various government bodies. Hatkesh is the god of Nagars. Hatkesh is one of the names given to lord Shiva. All the Nagars pray Hatkesh. The main temple of Lord Hatkeshwar is situated in Vadnagar in Mehsana district of Gujarat State in India. However, there is one very special temple of Lord Hatkesh in the village of Sathod on the way towards Chanod near Dabhoi in Vadodara district. This ancient historical temple is around 1200 years old and is considered the most important for all the Nagars, particularly belonging to this area, who are known as Sathodara Nagars. We had an opportunity to visit this beautiful and historical temple recently during my visit to India. I would narrate our experience of visiting the same. I am sure it will be really useful to all the Nagars, particularly residing in the USA.

Sathod can be easily reached by road in State transport bus or by hired car or taxi from the near by city of Vadodara. It is only around 30 miles away from Vadodara and it hardly takes 45 minutes to reach by car. There is a big and beautiful lake in the village of Sathod, which is known as Sathod Lake. This lake is full of clear and pure water and is spread in the area of around 5 square kilometers. It is the natural lake and its water is very sweet and is used for drinking purpose after its purification. The ancient temple of Lord Hatkesh is situated at the bank of this lake.

The temple is around 250 feet high and is having the most exquisite stone engravings on all the walls. These engravings show how the Nagars ancestors migrated to India from Iran and Afghanistan before about 1000 years. The most important aspect of this temple is it has white Shiva Lingam instead of conventional black Shiva Lingam. It is made of white marble, known as sphatik. The story is told that the Lord Shiva came in to dream of the Nagar minister of Sathod State and conveyed his exact location 35 feet below the ground in Sathod. Subsequently, the Nagar minister arranged for the removal of this most Sacred and beautiful Shiva Lingam. The temple was built here in the Ninth century and this white Shiva Lingam was installed in the temple.

Subsequent to this, this temple became very popular amongst all the Nagars. There are 12 Shiva Lingams installed in one Lord Shiva temple, just opposite to this Hatkesh temple. This temple is known as Barnath Mahadev temple. This temple is also equally ancient and has a very high historical importance. There are many Samadhis of Nagars who have sacrificed their lives protecting this temple during the Muslim attacks during 13^th century. There is also a temple of Vagheshwari Mata near this temple. It is said that Vagheshwari Mata was with Lord Shiva in destroying the demons in the most ancient time. There is also a very old and ancient statue of lord Ganesh here. One ancient stepped well is also situated here, which used to remain full of water and the entire city of Sathod was getting the water from this well.

Sathod was one of the very important cities in those days and was full of reach and business community people. There were around 250 delas of Nagars at that time and the city was spread in around 10 square miles area during that time. Though, it is merely a very small village having population of hardly 10000 people today. This Hatkesh temple is also in quiet bad shape. However, it still shows the importance of those prosperous days before around 1200 years.

You can visit this temple in around 4 to 5 hours time from Vadodara. If you start at around 8 am in the morning from Vadodara, you can surely reach back by lunch time. Make sure to carry bottled mineral drinking water and some snacks with you as there are no good restaurants available here in the village of Sathod.

If you are interested in the ancient history of Nagar community and Lord Hatkesh, you must visit this temple during your visit to India.