The Mahadeva Temple which is traced back to the Kadamba period (10 – 11 Century AD) was originally located in Kurdi Angod on the banks of river Salaulim. The construction of a dam across Salaulim had threatened the submergence of the temple, hence the relocation was done by systematically dismantling the original temple and then reassembling it at the new location after methodically numbering each stone, over a period of 11 years from 1985 to 1994.
(Below text copied from the information boards at the interpretation center)
TRANSPLANTATION OF MAHADEV TEMPLE KURDI
This transplanted temple originally located 17 kms South-East of the present location in Kurdi Angod on the bank of river Salaulim. The construction of a dam across Salaulim, had threatened to submerge the temple. Hence it was systematically dismantled and reconstructed at a higher elevation, providing similar topographical setting. Transplantation literally means to shift an object from one place and re-erect the same without changing the original character, to a safer place.
The transplantation of the temple was done during 1985-1994 with the team comprising of Dr. D.Hanumantha Rao, K.K.Muhammad, G.K.Korgaonkar, V. Gopal Rao, Asar, Deshpande, Vijay Sathbhai and Pandurang Dev.
The subsequent team comprising of N. Taher, Gangadhar Korgaonkar, Abhijit Ambekar, Gopal Rao, Gaikwad, Arun Prasad, Satyanarayana and Manuel Pareira worked on the upgradation of the site and carried out preventive conservation between 2003 – 09 and 2014 – 16.
Each member of the monument is numbered after adapting a standard pattern. Keeping in view that dismantling is taken from top to bottom while reconstruction is just the reverse, each face of the monument is numbered tier wise and clock wise with the direction starting from northern face. Similarly, the inner face bares corresponding numbers after adapting a nomenclature easy to remember while sorting out each stone for reconstruction.
