Panchavaktra Temple in Mandi – Himachal Pradesh – was built by the Pandavas during the Mahabharata period. The deity worshipped in the temple is the five-faced Shiva – each face of the murti represents an aspect of Mahadev Shiva. The five faces of Shiva are known as Sadyojat, Vamdev, Aghora, Tatpurush and Ishana.
The Shikhara of the temple is beautifully located on the banks of the Beas River. The temple is sometimes half-submerged in the river during the rainy season.
Four well-shaped pillars, whose capitals are decorated with two parrot-like birds facing each other support the mandapa, which also has a Nandi carved stone with an impressively designed back cover and carved necklace. The mandapa also has some shivings, a smaller Nandi and Ganesha.
The temple complex is deeply serene and the carvings on its walls show musicians and dancers, frolicking animals, fantastic creatures along with human and divine figures in poses that radiate gravitas.
A smaller shikhara temple in the complex houses a guardian deity – a tiger and a Nandi flank its entrance.
The Beas River flows on three sides of the temple. One can also get an impressive view of the Purani Mandi and new Mandi town from the shrine.
The temple is under the jurisdiction of the Archeological Survey of India.