Amrol
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The small town of Amrol consists of about 100 houses with about 700 inhabitants and is located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh . Not far from the village there are two temples which are attributed to the Pratihara era.
location
Amrol is located about 30 km south of Gwalior on a fertile plain. The place can be reached from Gwalior by buses or taxis.
history
In the absence of written records, nothing is known about Amrol's history. The two temples, which are about 2 km apart and are quite imposing, suggest that a not insignificant settlement or pilgrimage site once existed here.
temple
Ramesvara Mahadeva Temple
The temple is a good 1 km northwest of the village. It stands on level ground and is approx. 4 m wide and approx. 5 m long. The structure consists only of a cella ( garbhagriha ) to accommodate the lingam and a small anteroom ( antarala ) for visitors. The outer walls of the cella are five-fold stepped ( pancharatha ) and provided with niches in which mostly dancing ganas , the companions of Shiva , cavort. The Shikhara tower rises above the sanctum, but also partially includes the anteroom; its sub-segments take up the structure of the outer wall. The middle parts of the tower structure as well as most of the surfaces above the false windows of the outer wall are decorated with high panels ( udgamas ) from window niches ( chandrasalas ) arranged one above the other - a typical decorative motif of the Pratihara temples, which in its origins on Buddhist forerunners (including Chaitya windows ) is due.
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Five niches show dancing ganas , the dwarfish accompanying group of Shiva ; three niches also contain gods of the cardinal points ( lokapalas or dikpalas ): Agni on the ram, Ishana on the nandi , yama on the buffalo. Some niches are covered with panels ( udgamas ) from window niches ( chandrasalas ) placed one on top of the other , others show different decorative motifs, so that one can almost speak of decor experiments.
The three-part portal wall, which is slightly recessed from the outside to the inside, shows in the lower area the river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna, already badly destroyed due to rising damp and human influences, above well-preserved heavenly lovers ( mithunas ), individual female figures (dancer and musician) and male ascetics ( rishis ) as well as rich vegetal decor. The portal is exaggerated by a widened, architecture-like register made of horizontal-format stones with the obligatory window niches ( chandrasalas ) as decoration and lateral upper borders made of large corrugated ring stones amalakas , which are regularly crowned in northern India, but also in the Corners of Shikhara towers appear. Also noteworthy is a frieze with small hanging garlands above the portal, which - somewhat lowered in the further course - encloses the entire temple.
The interior of the square cella, which is only approx. 2 m × 2 m in size, with a well-preserved and still revered Shiva lingam is largely unadorned; the lingam is regularly washed by the brahmins - the water is drained to the outside via the yoni . The ceiling of the sanctum consists of stone slabs with a large lotus rose in relief; the interior of the Shikhara tower is partially hollow.
Danebaba temple
The so-called Danebaba Temple, about 1 km east of the village, has been partially ruined. However, the preserved architectural and decorative parts are overall more developed and more consistently designed than in the Ramesvara Mahadeva Temple, which is why construction time around 780 is assumed. The preserved niches in the outer wall show three Hindu gods ( Parvati , Karttikeya and Ganesha ) and six - out of a total of eight - deities of the cardinal points ( Varuna , Vayu , Kubera , Surya instead of Ishana , Indra and Agni ).
Meaning and style
The two temples of Amrol come from the early period (approx. 725-800) of the Pratihara architecture, which altogether roughly covers the period from approx. 725-950. Special features of this early phase are the lack of large raised platforms ( jagatis ), open pillared lobbies ( mandapas ) or covered walkways as they were still common at the Gupta temples ; Instead, most Pratihara temples have a small-scale, largely closed entrance area ( antarala ) in front of the actual cella . Compared to the Gupta temples, the outer walls of the sanctum are more richly decorated and more structured; this structure is continued in the Shikhara towers, which overall - compared to the early forms (cf. Naresar ) - experience a stronger differentiation and a clear height development.
See also
literature
- RD Trivedi: Temples of the Pratihara Period in Central India. Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi 1990
- Michael W. Meister, MA Dhaky (Ed.): Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture. North India - Period of Early Maturity. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1991, pp. 12ff ISBN 0-691-04094-X
- Anneliese and Peter Keilhauer: The Imagery of Hinduism. The Indian world of gods and their symbolism. DuMont, Cologne 1986, pp. 217ff ISBN 3-7701-1347-0
Web links
Coordinates: 26 ° 3 ′ 0 ″ N , 78 ° 11 ′ 0 ″ E