Zinavari
| Zinavari | |||
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| State : |
 India
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| State : | Gujarat | ||
| District : | Jamnagar | ||
| Sub-district : | Jamjodhpur | ||
| Location : | 22 ° 2 ' N , 69 ° 56' E | ||
| Height : | 138 m | ||
| Area : | 15.72 km² | ||
| Residents : | 1,761 (2011) | ||
| Population density : | 112 inhabitants / km² | ||
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Zinavari or Jinavari is a village in the Indian state of Gujarat with a population of almost 2,000 . Here is an early medieval temple named after the neighboring village of Gop .
location
Zinavari lies at the foot of a nearly 300 m high ridge in the otherwise rather flat and treeless west of Gujarat. The place is about 150 km (driving distance) in a north-westerly direction from Junagadh . The climate is mostly hot and dry; Rain actually only falls during the summer monsoon season .
population
Most of the inhabitants of the village are Hindus ; Muslims and other religious communities form numerically small minorities. Unlike in northern India, the proportion of men and women is roughly the same.
economy
Agriculture, mainly for self-sufficiency (agriculture and a little cattle breeding) formed the livelihood of the population for centuries. Towards the end of the 20th century, many men sought work in the country's industrial and urban centers.
history
Almost nothing is known about the history of the place. The unusual "tower temple" , mostly subsumed under the Saurashtra temple, sometimes also under the Gupta temple , was very likely built around 550 AD; it is undoubtedly the oldest (preserved) Hindu temple in the region.
Attractions
- The main attraction of the place is the tower-like-looking temple, which was formerly surrounded by a surrounding and roofed wooden vestibule ( mandapa ), which may originally have been dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva ; today, however, the term ' Surya Temple' is used. The temple rises on a total of approximately 3.50 m high and formerly articulated and provided with figures ( jagati ). The exact stone work of the otherwise unadorned and a good 2 m thick masonry is definitely reminiscent of the Gupta temples , which are mostly located in central India ; but a classification in the group of the Saurashtra temples in the south-west of Gujarat is geographically clearer. Overall, the Gop temple is almost unique. The pyramid-shaped tapering roof of the completely undivided and unadorned tower body is equipped with twelve crescent-shaped false windows ( chandrasalas ); the tip is shaped like a lotus. The meter-thick outer walls enclose a small square cella ( garbhagriha ) covered with a simple corbelled vault , in which there are today cult images of Vishnu and Skanda , which are probably not connected to the original temple, but were later brought here.
- A much younger temple ( Shuray Mandir ) is in the immediate vicinity; it is used by the population for cultic purposes ( puja ).
Similar temples
Almost similar temple buildings within Gujarat are in the 40 km southwest of Bileshvar, as well as in Khimeshwar and Bhanasara. Outside of Gujarat there is a certain resemblance to the Dashavatara temple in Deogarh (Uttar Pradesh) ; Similarities to temples in Kashmir (e.g. to the sun temple of Martand ) were also found.
literature
- Michael W. Meister et al. (Ed.): Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture. North India - Foundations of North Indian Style. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1988, ISBN 0-691-04053-2 , pp. 177f.
Web links
- Gop Temple - Photos + Info (Wikipedia, English)
- GOP temple - Photos and information (English)
- GOP temple - Photos and information (English)