Monuments: Western India

Gujarat and Rajasthan, which share a cultural and artistic identity, at the same time possess individual stylistic idioms. The combined geographical extent of the states is over 200,000 square miles (518, 000 sq. km).

Political History

Early Hindu kingdoms

The medieval period in western India witnessed the gradual disappearance of the early ruling dynasties and the emergence and consolidation of powerful new Hindu kingdoms. Some of these, like the Pratiharas, the Chaulukyas, and the Chahamanas, attained imperial status; other dynasties, such as the Grahapatis, the Mauryas, and the Guhilas, remained mere provincial potentates.

Harichandra, the progenitor of the Mandor branch of the Pratiharas, was a Brahman. His descendant Nagabhata, in the seventh century, shifted his capital to Medantaka-Merta. The Pratiharas ruled over northern Gujarat up to the first quarter of the tenth century, when the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan extended their political influence north.

Pratihara Vatsaraja (reigned c. 775–800) was a powerful monarch who conquered both Bhillamala in modern southwestern Rajasthan, and Malwa, in central and eastern Rajasthan. Vatsaraja was embroiled in the triangular struggles for power among the Pratiharas, the Deccani Rashtrakutas, and the Bengali Palas. He lost power to the Rashtrakutas, but his son and successor Nagabhata II (r.c. 815–833) regained the lost fortunes of the dynasty.

Nagabhata II's powerful successor, Bhoja I (c. 836–c. 890), was a strong ruler. During his long reign of over fifty years, he regained control over Gujarat and central and eastern Rajasthan. His successors were Mahendrapala and Mahipala. The Pratiharas, all great patrons of the arts and architecture, disappeared after the third quarter of the tenth century.

The Chaulukyas

The Chaulukyas, also known as Solankis, of Gujarat, ruled in 941 over Anhilwad Patan, eventually rising to the status of an imperial power. The dynasty continued to rule over all of Gujarat until 1220. The dynasty's founder, Mularaja (r. 942–997), and his successors, Chamundaraja (r. 997–1010), Durlabharaja (r. 1010–1022), Bhimadeva I (r. 1022–1066), Karnadeva (r. 1066–1094), Siddharaja Jayasimha (r. 1094–1144), Kumarapala (r. 1144–1174) and Bhimadeva II (r. 1174–1242), had hundreds of enduring stone religious monuments, temples, monasteries, tanks, and reservoirs constructed. The temples at Modhera, Patan, Sidhpur, and Prabhas Patan, and the reservoirs or wells at Anhilwad Patan are all Chaulukya constructions.

The Chahamanas

In both Rajasthan and Gujarat, the eighth century saw powerful kings and prolific artistic activity, encouraged by the Guhilas of Mewar and the Pratiharas of Marwar, particularly Jabalipura or Jalor, but also those of Mandor and Medta. In Mewar the Grahapati king Manabhanga founded two imposing monuments on Chittor hill, now known under the names of the Kalikamata and Kumbhashyama.

In the tenth century, the Chahamanas, whose founder Vasudeva was a Brahman, succeeded the Pratiharas in the Marwar region. They encouraged and supported artistic enterprises, especially two of their maharajas, Simharaja (r. 944–971) and Vigraharaja II (r. 971–998). Another Chahamana dynasty was independently established at Nadol, under Lakshmanaraja, who also supported architectural projects throughout the region.

The Guhilas shifted their capital from Chittor to Ahar, a modern suburb of Udaipur, in the tenth century. Nagda, 15 miles (24 km) to the north, was also an important center of Chahamana art activity. The period between the rule of Allata (c. 950) and Shaktikumara (980) witnessed the construction of many stone monuments in Mewar.

Maha-Gurjara, Maha-Maru, Surashtra, and Maru-Gurjara Styles

The exact limits of the architectural and sculptural styles of Rajasthan and Gujarat are from Parnagar in district Barmer of Rajasthan in the north to Parol near Mumbai in the south, and from Osian and Kiradu in the west to Atru in the east.

Medieval North Indian temple styles may be classified into four geographical varieties: the eastern, the central, the northern or upper India, and the western. Of these, the western variety was of the longest duration and was the most prolific; also called the Maru-Gujara, this style appeared around the beginning of the eleventh century.

The styles of western India that predate the appearance of the Maru-Gurjara style may be divided into the following three schools: the Maha-Maru, the style of Rajasthan; the Maha-Gurjara style of northern Gujarat, the northern part of the Saurashtra peninsula, Cutch, and southern Rajasthan; and the Surashtra style, which was limited to the southern part of the Saurashtra peninsula of Gujarat.

The Maha-Maru style was essentially a homogenous style, though it expressed itself through two schools, the Maru-Sapadalaksha in the north and the Medapata-Uparamala in the east. From the early eighth century—when the Maha-Maru began its independent course after the post-Gupta phase—to the end of the tenth century, when it merged into the Maru-Gurjara, three phases can be detected in its evolution.

The first phase lasted from the early eighth to the mid-ninth century; the second from mid-ninth to the mid-tenth; and the third phase can be placed in the second half of the tenth century.

The Maha-Maru school is reflected in many temples. The Kumbhashyama temple at Chittorgarh, built between 644 and 743 by the Grahapati dynasty's Raja Manabhanga, is the earliest example. Other securely dated monuments are the Mahavira temple at Osian, constructed during the reign of the Pratihara king Vatsaraja (r. 777–808), and the Vishnu temple at Buchkala, from the reign of his son Nagabhata II in 815. Similarly, an inscription dated between 956 and 973 provides the date for the Harshanatha temple at Sikar.

The temples of the early phase normally stand on a platform, and have a single projection. Their walls are decorated with sculptures of the divine regents of the quarters (Dikpalas) and other gods of the Hindu or Jain pantheon. The images are crowned by tall pediments. The superstructure (shikhara) has a meshwork of creepers, a distinguishing feature. The door frames are richly decorated, with motifs that include naga pairs (nagashakha), pilasters with vases, foliage above and carved panels below, and amorous couples embracing. On the walls and on the other parts of the structures a rich variety of figures and motifs are represented.

The Medapata-Uparamala branch of the Maha-Maru style saw the production of such large temples as the Kalikamata and Kumbhashyama at Chittorgarh (later renovated extensively in the fifteenth century). The Maha-Gurjara style, with its three branches of Anarta, Arbuda, and lower Medapata, enjoyed an almost unbroken continuity between the second half of the eighth century until about the end of the tenth. Among the securely dated temples are the Ambika temple at Jagat (961) and the Lakulisha temple at Eklingji (972).

The earliest shrines of the Maha-Gurjara style belong to its Anarta variety and are located at Roda. These early temples are rather plain when compared to contemporary Maha-Maru constructions. They have shikharas with meshwork patterns. In contrast to Maha-Maru shrines, Maha-Gurjara monuments have plain walls and a solitary niche on the main offset, with a short pediment. Most often there is no hall in front but only a short wall on two pillars, and a roof of the stepped pyramid type known as phamsana. The door frames of Maha-Gurjara temples are lavishly decorated. They may have three or five jambs, with floral bands, jewel bands, vyalas (mythical animals) and decorated pilasters. The best examples of the Maha-Gurjara style are from the second half of the tenth century, and their walls display the full range of statuary, with divine images, apsaras (nymphs), gandharvas (heavenly musicians), vidyadharas (supernatural beings possessing magical powers), and vyalas. Their shikharas are arranged in multiples around the central spine, with excellent meshwork on the surface.

The merger of two of the three styles, Maha-Gurjara and Maha-Maru, in the eleventh century resulted in a new style whose sway extended over nearly all of Rajasthan and Gujarat up to the end of the thirteenth century. The form of the Maru-Gurjara temple is not very dissimilar to any other example of contemporary date from anywhere in North India. It is in the organization of its component elements and in the details of its decoration and sculpture that a Maru-Gurjara temple is distinctive.

Temples and Sculptures

The Shitaleshvara temple, Jhalrapatan

The Shiva temple of 689, known as the Shitaleshvara (Lord of Shitala, the goddess of smallpox), is the earliest securely dated standing temple in western India. An inscription recording the name of Raja Durggagana was found associated with the temple. Rather simple and heavy in form, the Shitaleshvara consists of a sanctum and a frontal chamber, to which a pillared hall was added in the tenth century. The walls of the sanctum have prominent projections and pilasters, elaborately carved with bold floral designs and other motifs. The superstructure is no longer preserved.

The Shitaleshvara is one of a small but significant group of monuments situated within a limited area in this part of Mewar-Rajasthan, the others being the Kalikamata and Kumbhashyama, two shrines at Menal, one at Joganiamata nearby, and an as yet unpublished ruined shrine at Khor, near Chittorgarh. All these shrines have the features of the styles of Malwa and Mewar, and all are datable to the late seventh or early eighth centuries. Some sculptures from the site have been preserved in the local museum. Images of seven goddesses from this site are housed in a small chamber near the Shitaleshvara. From their attributes—their total nudity, the winnowing fans, brooms and daggers in their hands, a donkey mount for at least some of them—they could be the images of Shitala, the goddess of smallpox. Since Shiva here is Shitaleshvara, or the "lord of the goddess of smallpox," the presence of her representations, of the same date as Shiva's temple, is not unusual.

Abhaneri

Ancient Abhanagari, "city of splendor," about 60 miles (96 km) to the east of Jaipur, has preserved two very significant monuments of the eighth century, of the Chahamana period, even though both have suffered much damage. The Vishnu temple is now standing only up to the walls, as are parts of the vast terrace on which it stood. The plinth moldings have twelve panels with scenes of royalty—princes with beautiful female companions—in varied romantic situations, and the style of carving is among the most charming of all Indian art.

The large square-shaped stepped tank, known as the Chand Baodi, was also adorned with beautiful carvings. It was renovated during the Rajput period, when arched pavilions typical of the time were built. A large number of sculptures from the tank's shrine and the great Vishnu temple are stored in the compound of the tank.

Osian

Before the two styles of architecture, the Maha-Gurjara and the Maha-Maru, merged to form the pan-western Indian style of Maru-Gurjara in the early eleventh century, the two individual parent styles did occasionally encroach upon each other's territory. Osian was, however, one center where the Maha-Maru style retained its pristine purity.

The many temples at Osian, near Jodhpur, are datable to a period from the eighth to the eleventh century, and are scattered all around the small town. The two Harihara temples (numbers 1 and 2), the two Surya temples (numbers 2 and 3), and a tank for sacred water are the earliest monuments here, and are all datable to the eighth century. Fine sculptures of Hindu gods, such as Vishnu's Narasimha (Man-Lion) incarnation, in which he killed a demon king, and Trivikrama (Three-Strike) incarnations, in which he "measured" the entire universe in just three steps, adorn the walls of Harihara 2. Surya 3 has sculptures of Gaṇesha and the Sun god, Durgā, in its sanctum walls. Many of the temples have lost their superstructure, but where they are intact, they are the elegantly curving northern Indian shikharas.

To the Jains, Osian's importance rests in the fact that the prominent Ukeshvala sect originated here, and the earliest Jain temple of western India, dedicated to the Tīrthānkara Mahāvīra, was built here. The Mahāvīra temple, together with its adjuncts, was built during the reign of the Pratihara ruler Vatsaraja, while other structural parts were added in the tenth century.

Roda

Just as Osian possesses the perfect examples of early Maha-Maru architecture, and was never influenced by any Maha-Gurjara elements, Roda in Gujarat is the site that displays the Maha-Gurjara idiom in its clearest form, without any alloy from the Maru. The seven temples here are small, having only a sanctum fronted by a porch. The walls, sometimes with single central offsets, the columns, and the shikhara all exhibit the pure Maha-Gurjara elements. The temples, as well as a tank at the site, have been dated to the eighth century.

Harshagiri

The temple of Shiva Harshanatha (Lord of Joy) on the Harshagiri hill, is worth noting, especially for its sculptural art, even though it has suffered great damage. The site is a strikingly beautiful plateau, on a high hill some 8 miles (13 km) to the south of Sikar in northern Rajasthan. The temple possesses a sanctum, whose floor is about 2 feet (.6 m) lower than the floor of the hall, an antechamber, a hall, a porch, and a separate pavilion for a Nandi (Shiva's "bull" vahana) image. Parts of the temple were reerected haphazardly in the thirteenth century and later; its superstructure has vanished entirely. The surviving sculptures, however—one of Pārvatī performing her penance of the "five fires," flanked by a dozen young maidens, and a Lingodbhava Shiva preserved in the museum at Jaipur—testify to the high standards of the sculptural art. On the basis of an inscription of 956, the Harshanatha has been ascribed to the period of the Chahamana raja Simharaja I. The beautiful columns, architraves, and sculptures collected from the site have been transferred to the town of Sikar at the foot of the hill, where they form the nucleus of a local museum.

Baroli

A group of nine temples of the Maha-Maru style were built at Baroli, 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Kota in eastern Rajasthan, during the first half of the tenth century. They are all of modest size, and of a homogeneous style, with a shrine fronted by a narrow chamber, to which is attached a porch. They are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, the Devi Mahishasuramardini ("Mother Goddess, destroyer of the Buffalo demon"), and elephant-headed Gaṇesha. Only the Ghateshvara temple has large sculptures in the niches of its walls, the walls of all the other temples being quite plain.

The Maheshamurti aspect of Shiva in the temple dedicated to him is particularly interesting. Maheshamurti, or Shiva as "the Great Lord," is that aspect in which the totality of his being is revealed, including his tranquil central face, with a fierce demon (Aghora) face on one side, complemented by a female or Mother Goddess (Uma) face on the other. Shiva as the Great Lord was a favorite theme in southern Rajasthan's art. At Baroli his bust is 6 feet (1.8 m) high and equally wide; it is severely damaged, but even these mutilated Aghora and Uma faces are very expressive of Shiva's contrasting characters. What is equally interesting is that the sculpture is not independently carved and installed in the shrine; rather, the inner face of the slabs forming the back wall of the shrine is carved with Shiva's form, with the outer faces forming the wall's surface.

Shiva as Gajasurasamharamurti ("Slayer of the Elephant Demon") on the south wall of the Ghateshvara temple is an especially spirited image, standing diagonally in the rectangular niche. The human busts, complete with flailing arms, which form his garland, create a macabre effect. On the other hand, the apsara clinging to a column of the temple has an alluring look.

Jagat

The village of Jagat is situated 40 miles (64 km) to the south of Udaipur, where there is a well-preserved temple of goddess Ambika. The temple stands in a large enclosure with an entrance structure in the east, and consists of the sanctum, a closed hall, and also a small structure for collecting bathing water. On the three sides on the walls at the level of the plinth there are small but deep niches, which house the images of Devi Mahishamardini ("Mother Goddess destroyer of the Buffalo demon"). On either side on the walls, following a fixed pattern, are the regents of the four directions, celestial nymphs, and mythical animals. A multiturreted shikhara crowns the sanctum. An inscription helps to fix the date at 961.

Eklingji

About 15 miles (24 km) to the north of Udaipur is a group of temples at a site called Eklingji. The Guhila dynasty of Mewar held Shiva Lakulisha as especially sacred, and his temple at Eklingji is the one where Mewar's kings worshiped. This is a simple shrine of the third quarter of the tenth century, comprising a sanctum, a narrow chamber, and a hall. The sanctum has a superstructure with many turrets. On the walls of the sanctum are sculptures relevant to its Shaiva dedication.

Nagda

15 miles (24 km) to the north of Udaipur, close to Eklingji, are the twin temples of Vishnu, with their own subshrines known as the Sas-Bahu, or "Mother-in-Law's" and "Daughter-in-Law's" temples. It is a late tenth century temple of the type known as panchayatana, with Vishnu enshrined in the main temple, and with four smaller corner shrines dedicated to four lesser Hindu divinities. The whole complex is built on a high platform, situated in the middle of much greenery, and is fronted by an ornamental arched entrance gateway. The name of the site derives from nagadraha (snake pool), inspired by the nearby lake.

Toos

About 20 miles (32 km) to the east of Udaipur on the road to Chittorgarh is a mid-tenth century temple of the Sun god Surya in the village of Toos. Built in the Mewar idiom of the Maha-Gurjara style, the temple has lost its original superstructure (the present one is much later); it has a sanctum fronted by a narrow passage and a hall with three entrances on the east, south, and north. The outer walls have a repertory of sculptures: seated figures of Surya in the wall niches, standing Surya on the outer walls of the passage in front of the sanctum, and the regents of the four directions, apsaras, and mythical animals in their allotted places on the offsets and recesses.

Modhera

Modhera in northern Gujarat can be said to occupy the same position in western India that Khajuraho does in central India. It is the finest example of a mature temple of the Maru-Gurjara style. The temple is part of a large complex comprising a tank with small shrines punctuating the landings on the steps, a dancing hall, and an ornate entrance archway. There are other shrines within the premises as well, as also an old stepped well to the northeast of the temple complex.

The temple, known since the nineteenth century as the Sun temple, consists of a closed hall in front and a shrine at the rear, connected by means of a narrow passage. Curiously, the floor of the shrine is no less than 12 feet (3.6 m) below the floor of the hall, a phenomenon that has never yet been satisfactorily understood. The statuary on the outer walls of the temple neatly divides itself into two groups: solar and Shaiva; on the walls of the shrine are the sculptures of the twelve Adityas, or solar gods, and on the hall's walls are twelve images of Gauris, or Shaiva goddesses. Inside the temple, however, the solar element predominates, but on the shrine doorway there is an image of Shiva presiding over the lintel. The Solanki kings under whose patronage the complex at Modhera was built were devotees of Shiva. Ancient Hinduism also has a syncretic god, who is a blend of Shiva and the Sun god Surya, called Martanda-Bhairava. It is more likely that the temple at Modhera was dedicated to this combined deity rather than to Surya alone.

Vimala Vasahi, Mount Abu

Jain temples were also erected during the reign of Bhima I. The beautiful Adinatha temple on Mount Abu was one of them. It was built by Vimala, a minister at the court of Bhima, and is therefore commonly known as the Vimala Vasahi. The original structure, founded in 1033, consists of a sanctum, a closed hall, and another hall known as the trikamandapa; to this nucleus other structural members were added in the twelfth century. The Vimala Vasahi is justly famous for its minutely carved columns and its ceilings, which are covered with semidivine female figures and other delicately carved decorative friezes.

The Mahavira temple, Sewadi

Temples of the style known as the Bhumija were principally built in Malwa, or central India. A variety of the North Indian Nagara style, the Bhumija is distinguished by the form of its shikhara, which has a central mesh running from base to finial on all its four sides, with a chaitya (decorative trifoliate dormer window) at the base. The quadrants between the tall mesh are filled with miniature shikhara models resting on columns, known as kutastambhas or stambhakutas of five to seven stories in three to five horizontal rows. The base of the frontal mesh always has a large antefix, which displays an image of the god enshrined within the sanctum. The Mahavira temple at Sewadi has a well-proportional shikhara of bricks with three vertical and six horizontal rows of miniature stambhakutas.

Menal

Other temples of this Bhumija class in Rajasthan are much later, of the Chahamana period. The Mahanaleshvara ("Shiva the Lord of the Gorge") is so called because it is built facing a 100 (30.5 m)-foot-deep gorge and a waterfall. Its tall shikhara has four busts of Shiva at the top of its central latas (creepers). The walls of the rangamandapa (pillared hall) and the shrine have the usual complement of sculptures, regents of the four quarters, apsaras, and divinities of the Hindu pantheon, but they are rather stereotyped and lack the verve of earlier sculpture.

Bijolia

A few miles from Menal is another group of temples at Bijolia. The Undeshvara is so named because the liṅga of Shiva is here installed some 10 or 12 feet (3–3.6 m) below the floor of the hall; probably it was a svayambhu liṅga (self-manifested liṅga), over which the shrine was erected. The temple has a stellate plan; it has a shikhara that is navabhauma (having 9 stories). The shukanasa antefixes at the bases of the latas have sculptures of Shiva. It can be dated to the first half of the twelfth century.

Mahāvīra temple, Kumbhariya

If the Vimala Vasahi was built on Mount Abu in 1032, in the early years of the reign of Bhima I, the Mahāvīra temple at Kumbhariya was built toward its end, in 1062. It was planned on an ambitious scale, with a sanctum, a closed hall, several other halls, and several small nichelike shrines, all standing on a high platform. The interior columns, brackets, ceilings—indeed, all available surfaces—display carvings that have an almost lapidary quality, more intricate even than the Vimala Vasahi, which has rarely been equaled.

Ranakpur

The complex of Jain temples at Ranakpur built in the fifteenth century is a virtual temple town. Measuring over 300 feet by 300 feet (91.5 m x 91.5 m), it possesses four smaller shrines and several pillared halls surrounding the central shrine in honor of Adinatha, the first Jain Tīrthānkara. A high terrace with entrances on all four sides accommodates the central shrine of Adinatha, with a multiturreted tower and with pillared halls on the four sides. The corner shrines are smaller, with simpler superstructures. Hundreds of tall and slender columns and an infinite variety of delicately carved ceilings made this complex a marvel of architectural planning.

Shatrunjay

This temple town, situated on a high hill near Palitana in Gujarat's Saurashtra peninsula, has a large number of Jain temples datable from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Monuments of a still earlier period must have existed at one time; but no trace has survived. The Jains hold this entire hill in great reverence because of its associations with their first Tirthankara Adinatha, and it remains one of their most sacred pilgrimage centers. Its Adinatha temple of the sixteenth century, with its two-storied hall and complex superstructure, has a towering statue of Adinatha in its sanctum.

The Tower of Victory, Chittorgarh

Maharana Kumbhakarna, better known as Kumbha, erected this monument on the Chittor hill in the second half of the fifteenth century. Conceived as a hollow column, the tower is about 120 feet (36.6 m) high and is divided into nine stories. Its surfaces are adorned with hundreds of sculptures from the Hindu pantheon; gods and goddesses, and characters from the epics and mythology are all identified with brief labels, a virtual handbook of Hindu iconography. Rana Kumbha is known in Indian artistic tradition for the renaissance of Indian culture that he attempted, documented by the Tower of Victory.

Reservoirs and Stepped Wells

No account of the art of western India can be complete without a reference to its hundreds of stepped wells and reservoirs. With its semidesert climate and scant rainfall, there was a constant need to create sources of water. Thousands of stepped wells, lakes, and drinking places have been excavated since early times, often in memory of dead relatives.

The grandest and most elaborate of all stepped wells, known as the Queen's Stepwell, was at Patan, capital of the Chaulukya, or Solanki, dynasty. It was built by Udayamati, queen of Bhimadeva I, after his death in 1064. It has seven underground stories, and its draw well attains a depth of more than 100 feet (30.5 m). The total length at ground level is 220 feet (67 m). The walls of the corridor and the well are adorned by sculptures of the Hindu pantheon. Vishnu, his incarnations, Shiva, Gaṇesha, Pārvatī performing penance for reunion with Shiva (an allusion perhaps to Udayamati's own aspirations after her separation from Bhimadeva), are all there, together with hundreds of other divine or semidivine beings.

The Sahasraliṅga reservoir

Bhimadeva was followed to the throne by his son Karnadeva. He created, at Patan, the Sahasraliṅga (Thousand Liṅga) reservoir in the later years of the eleventh century, by digging a channel from the Sarasvati River nearby. In the bed of this channel one thousand small shrines were erected, each housing a liṅga of Shiva, hence the reservoir's name.

The Adalaj Stepwell

The stepped well at Adalaj, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Ahmedabad, was built by Queen Ruda in memory of her deceased husband in 1499. In size, it is comparable to Udayamati's monument but, being a construction of the time when Muslim rule was firmly established in Gujarat, it is bereft of figure carvings, since Islam forbids figurative depictions. It is also a rare example of a stepped well with three entrances.

Kirit Mankodi

See alsoTemple Types (Styles) of India

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