Masrur temple
The rock temples of Masrur (also Masroor temples ) are a symmetrical group of several Hindu temples from the 8th century in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, carved out of the rugged rock .
location
The Masrur temples are located away from any village or town on a hill in the area of the upper reaches of the river Beas about 35 km (driving distance) west of the district capital Kangra at an altitude of about 735 m . The Pong Dam (also Maharana Pratap Sagar ) is only 6 km away.
history
Most researchers date the construction of the partially unfinished temple complex, which was probably also affected by natural forces such as earthquakes and erosion, to the first half of the 8th century. It is unclear whether it was still in use before the arrival of Islam in the 11th century; In any case, it was forgotten in the following years and was only rediscovered for archaeological research and the world public in 1913 by Henry Shuttleworth, an employee of the Archaeological Survey of India .
Architecture and decoration
The temples are designed in the north Indian Nagara style , the main feature of which is the high Shikhara towers above the cella . While these are usually made using the corbel technique, in the present case they are carved out of the stone. The central main temple consists of an unfinished, approximately square vestibule ( mandapa ) with scheduled four inputs and a slightly higher lying considerably smaller, but also square Cella ( garbhagriha ) with a four-faced Shiva - lingam .
Numerous figures from the Shivaite circle of gods adorn the outer walls; some figures belong to the Vishnuitic circle. However, they are all in a poor state of preservation. Only the multiple downgraded, figure adorned and decorated with vegetal ornaments portal garments of an inside unfinished side temple gives an idea of the craftsmanship of the stonemasons of that time.
See also
Apart from the Shikhara towers, the temples of Masrur are similar in their construction and their Shivaite iconography to the roughly simultaneous, but distant, cave temples of Elephanta near Mumbai and the Kailasa temple of Ellora .
literature
- Michael W. Meister: Mountain Temples and Temple-Mountains: Masrur. University of California Press 2006, pp. 26-49
- Nisar Khan: Architecture of the Rock-Cut Temples of Masroor . Heritage Conservators, New Delhi 2014
Web links
Coordinates: 32 ° 4 ' N , 76 ° 8' E