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Pedhe is a small village, popularly known as Kshetra Parashurama, located five miles from Chiplun. The temple dedicated to Parashurama is situated on the top of a hill. The village gained prominence only because of the temple.
The architecture of the temple is very simple. The temple has a large rectangular enclosure surrounded by brick and stone walls pierced by arched gateways. The plan is formed by, a sabhamandap, the easternmost part of the scheme, a central mandap, and a garbhagriha. The eastern gateway is the biggest and a drum-house i.e. a nagarkhana surmounts it.
The Garbhagriha houses three idols together and is quite
dark. The central one is that of Parashurama, to his right is that of Kala
and to his left is Kama. The image of Parashurama is important
iconographically, the lower right hand is in the Abhaya' Mudra, the upper
right carries an arrow, the upper left a bow, and the lower left a Parashu
or battle-axe. All the three images carry weapons in their hands. It is
believed that these images were installed in 1779 AD by one Parachure from
Guhagar near Cbiplun. Before this people used to worship a rock on the
same spot as swayambhu image of the god.
After coming out of the temple one can find in the same courtyard a small
Hanuman temple in front of the main shrine. To the north is a small Ganesh
shrine that houses an image of Ganesh with the trunk turned towards the
right and a female image locally known as that of Ganga. There is a small
structure behind the Parashurama temple devoted to Renuka his mother.
Nearby is a kund known as Banaganga, supposedly created by Parashurama
with his arrow-Bana.
According to the prevailing legend it is believed that one day a cow stood over a particular spot and let her milk flow down on it this act was repeated day after day, which puzzled the cowherds. A person had a dream in which Parashurama appeared and informed him that he was staying in a 'Gupt' or secret non-visible form at the spot. The spot was worshipped then onwards by some devotees. Later on it gained prominence and took the present form.
Regular bus services are provided by the State Transport to Chiplun. Tourists can hire taxis from Chiplun.
Accommodation is available at the small budgeted hotels in Chiplun.