Ambika Mata Temple (Jagat)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ambika Mata Temple in Jagat ( Rajasthan )

The Ambika Mata Temple (also Jagat Temple ) in the small town of Jagat almost 40 kilometers south-east of Udaipur in the state of Rajasthan is one of the best preserved medieval temples in northern India .

temple

Consecration

The temple is dedicated to the goddess Ambika ( Sanskrit : अम्बिका ambikā = "mother"), who is regarded as helpful and kind and who - as an aspect of the goddess Durga or Devi - is venerated in large parts of India. According to tradition, Ambika / Durga is considered a creature of all gods, which can be recognized by their attributes or weapons; however, it is mostly assigned to the Shivaite group of gods in the broadest sense .

Building history

Several short inscriptions have been found on the temple itself, one of which relates to a repair in 960/1. Based on this date and the mature figure style, it can be assumed that the temple was built in the 1st half of the 10th century. Nothing is known about the client (s); For financial reasons alone, it must have been a high-ranking personality (s). During the Islamic advances in North India, the building remained undiscovered and thus also undamaged; it was not noticed and examined by archaeological research until 1956. The temple is still used for cultic purposes.

architecture

The temple, which is only slightly raised from the floor level, consists of four components - a small entrance portico ( mukhamandapa ), a large vestibule ( mandapa ), a small vestibule ( antarala ) and the sanctum ( garbhagriha ). The vestibule is slightly larger than the sanctuary area and is also equipped with side jali windows; Nevertheless, the temple looks very harmonious overall - mainly because of the uniformly designed base and eaves area. The entrance hall has a gable roof, which is unusual for India; the vestibule is covered with a multi-tiered pyramid roof and a shikhara tower with three side towers ( urushringas ) rises above the sanctum, which is only slightly structured in comparison to later buildings . The roof structures are decorated with decorative panels ( udgamas ) and crowned with ribbed ring stones ( amalakas ) and - in some cases - with jugs ( kalashas ).

Durga as 'slayer of the buffalo demon' ( mahisasurmardini ) within a torana supported by pillars ; a lion - the mount ( vahana ) of the goddess - has grabbed the buffalo, pierced by the trident ( trishula ) of Shiva, from behind. The demon arises in human form from the severed head of the buffalo and begs Durga for mercy, which is ultimately of no use to him.

sculpture

The figurative decoration of the temple consists mainly of gods in the outer wall niches ( Shiva , Brahma , Sarasvati , Kubera , Vayu , Chamunda and others; Durga appears three times as the killer of the buffalo demon). In addition, accompanying "beautiful girls" ( surasundaris ) appear in all sorts of poses and musicians. You can also see some seemingly overpowering lion monsters ( vyalas ), against which small armed warriors defend themselves - a metaphor for the ongoing threat to humans from animal evil and the resulting need for constant vigilance and willingness to fight. The base ( pitha ) of the temple is formed by three circumferential levels - the lower one shows the grimaces of the lion monster ( kirttimukhas ); above it is a row of small elephants that appear to be supporting the temple; on the upper level there are seated musicians.

All figures are of exceptional craftsmanship and artistic quality and are also in excellent condition. Some wall niches are so densely filled with almost fully plastic figures that one can hardly imagine how this could be done manually and technically.

classification

Both in terms of its architecture and the style of the figures, there is an obvious relationship between the Ambika Mata temple and the temples of Khajuraho, which were only a few decades later, but already much larger ( Lakshmana temple , Vishvanatha temple , Kandariya Mahadeva temple ) . Although there are no erotic figures, the Ambika Mata Temple is sometimes referred to as the 'Khajuraho Rajasthans' and it is quite possible that some of the stonemasons involved later worked in Khajuraho or at least passed on their artistic knowledge and skills there via their students.

literature

Web links

Commons : Ambika Mata temple (Jagat)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 24 ° 23 '  N , 73 ° 54'  E