Koncheswar Mahadev
Temple · Shiva, as Koncheshwarnath · Konch, Gaya, Bihar
It is a living Shiva temple and the finest surviving brick temple in Gaya district
A large brick temple of about the 14th century CE with a heavy curvilinear nagara shikhara built of bricks of varying sizes, its walls broken into seven external faces by recessed vertical lines, and, unusually for the region, curved rather than straight sides. The tower was once topped by a cylindrical pinnacle with a hemispherical crown. Inside is a Shivalinga and a Dashavatara panel of Vishnu; the premises hold sculptures of Vishnu, Shiva, Hara-Gauri, Ganesha and Surya. Recorded by Cunningham and Beglar in 1872-73. It is an ASI Monument of National Importance.
Plan your visit
- Area
- Gaya
- Status
- Coming Soon
Tirtham can arrange here
Guide, car and stay around Gaya
Also around Gaya
- Litti chokha: The dish people mean when they say Bihari food.
- Sattu sharbat in summer: What Bihar drinks against the heat: roasted gram, water, lemon and salt, sold from carts on every corner.
- Tilkut on Ramna Road: Gaya's winter sweet, pounded from sesame and jaggery by hand for about 150 years, and eaten at Makar Sankranti.
- Anarsa of Gaya: The rice-and-sesame sweet Bihar Tourism places at Gaya.
- The stone carvers of Patharkatti: A village of stone carvers descended from the Gaur craftsmen Ahilyabai Holkar brought from Rajasthan to build the Vishnupad temple; GI-registered in June 2026.
- Pitrapaksh Mela: The fortnight when families from all over India come to Gaya to offer pind to their ancestors.
Nearby places
- Vishnupad Temple, Gaya: Lord Vishnu's footprint, and the great seat of pind daan
- Akshayavat: It is where the final, concluding pinda of the Gaya Shraddha is offered, making it the last stop of the...
- Sita Kund: Pilgrims come because Sita is held to have performed Pind Daan here for her father-in-law Dashratha...
- Ramshila Hill: Rama is believed to have offered pinda on this hill, so mourners offer pindas here during Pitrapaksh
- Pretshila Hill: Devotees bathe in Brahma Kund and then perform pinda-daan on the hill for ancestors believed to be...
- Brahmayoni Hill: Hindus climb it in large numbers during Pitripaksha to offer at the hill and squeeze through the...
- Mangla Gauri Temple: It is counted among the eighteen Maha Shakti Peethas, the spot where Sati's breast fell, and newlyweds...
- Phalgu River ghats, Gaya: Tarpan and the riverbed pinda offerings of the Gaya Shraddha are made on these ghats
Questions pilgrims ask
Why is Koncheswar Mahadev important?
A large brick temple of about the 14th century CE with a heavy curvilinear nagara shikhara built of bricks of varying sizes, its walls broken into seven external faces by recessed vertical lines, and, unusually for the region, curved rather than straight sides. The tower was once topped by a cylindrical pinnacle with a hemispherical crown. Inside is a Shivalinga and a Dashavatara panel of Vishnu; the premises hold sculptures of Vishnu, Shiva, Hara-Gauri, Ganesha and Surya. Recorded by Cunningham and Beglar in 1872-73. It is an ASI Monument of National Importance.
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