The Hindu festival of Mahashivaratri will be celebrated on February 12 this year.

The 12th C temple of Mahadeva (another name for Shiva) set in a remote forest at Tambdi Surla is Goa‘s oldest surviving temple. It remains a place of active worship to this day.

This photograph was taken in 2007 in the thick of the monsoon season. When I got to Tambdi Surla that morning a heavy downpour had just subsided. The ambience was magical and this framing suggested itself quite naturally. The slight colour cast of green on the temple structure is not a processing artifact; it is a consequence of the wet temple reflecting the surrounding foliage.

12th C Mahadeva Temple at Tambdi Surla, Goa
5D, 24-105L

See this earlier entry for another view of the temple.

Dark monsoon clouds hang low on the Western Ghats overlooking the 12th C Mahadeva (Shiva) temple in the village of Tambdi Surla, Goa. Many great Goan temples were destroyed by the Portuguese but this exquisitely carved gem, set in a remote jungle clearing, escaped unscathed probably because of its isolation. It is today the oldest surviving temple in Goa.

Mahadeva Temple in Tambdi Surla, Goa
5D, 24-105L