INDIA IS A LAND OF WONDERS! Here are selected 6 ANCIENT MANDIRS (Hindu temples), which are architectural marvels – each unique in itself!
The Ratneshwar Mahadev Mandir in Varanasi is about a 200-year-old Lord Shiva temple. This temple is one of the only 2 leaning temples in the whole world. The other one is Leaning temple of Huma in Odisha.
In monsoon when the river Ganges swells to its full capacity all the Ghats get submerged in water, sometimes they totally disappear in it. For this reason, most of the temples were built on a higher platform.
The mason was aware of it and even if wasn’t then It might have taken at least a year and a half to complete the temple at the quickest. So, the temple would have gone underwater at least one time for a few months at the time of its construction. Which confirms that the selection of location was intentional.
As ignorant as it may sound, digging deep into archives shows that Ratneshwar Mahadev wasn’t the only temple built at a lower platform. There were also a few temples that were intentionally built on the lower ground for unknown reasons. Out of these ill-fated structures, only Ratneshwar Mahadev was able to survive the test of time.
The Vidyashankara Temple was built in the year 1338 A.D. It is a unique monument built entirely of stone combining both Hoysala (Chalukya) and Dravidian architectural styles. In the eastern half of the structure is a mandapa with twelve pillars, huge monoliths carrying large figures and carrying heavy projecting corbels on top.
These twelve pillars are marked by the twelve signs of the zodiac (months as we so call it in modern terms) in their regular order. They are constructed in such an ingenious way that the rays of the sun fall on each pillar in the chronological order of the twelve months of the Hindu calendar.
The Chennakeshava Temple (also called Vijaya Narayana Temple), which was built by Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana to commemorate his victory over the Cholas in 1116 AD. This star shaped temple is believed to have taken around 103 years to build.
The temple stands on a platform and has exquisite artwork on its outer walls adorned with bracket figures depicting the Puranas and Epics, all carved to perfection. Just outside is an interesting piece of sculpture, called the Gravity pillar which is carved out of a single rock and stands in its own weight. People can actually swipe a piece of paper across it.
According to an inscription dated to 1323 CE (Vikram Samvat 1383), the temple was built by the Kachchhapaghata king Devapala (r. c. 1055 – 1075). It is said that the temple was the venue of providing education in astrology and mathematics based on the transit of the Sun.
This temple is so named because of the presence of multitude of shivalingas inside its cells. This circular temple is one among the very few such temples in India. This is a yogini temple dedicated to sixty-four yoginis.
The design of the temple has withstood earthquake shocks, without any damage to its circular structural features, in the past several centuries. According to many historians, the design of Old Indian Parliament Building is based on this structure.
The temple was first built by the Chola ruler, Dharmavarma. The Kaveri river flood destroyed the temple vimanam, and later, the early Cholas King Killivalavan rebuilt the temple complex that is present today.
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple is the first and foremost among the 108 Vaishnava Divyadesams dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The South Rajagopuram is the tallest tower of 236 feet height with 13 tiers.
The Srirangam temple stands as the largest religious complex in the world in active worship with a continuous historical presence as a Hindu temple. Skyscrapers aren’t exclusive to modern cities. The temples were our version of them in ancient times.
The Meenakshi Temple complex is literally a city – one of the largest of its kind in India and undoubtedly one of the oldest too. The temple grew into an enormous complex extending over an area of 65000 Sq m. The temple first came in to being 2000 years ago and was substantially expanded during the regime of Thirumalai Nayak (1623-55 AD).
A striking feature of the temple is the astonishing structure know as “Ayiramkaal Mandapam” or the Hall of Thousand Pillars and each pillar features high, ornate, bold sculptures that look life like. View from any angle these pillars appear to be in a straight line, an architectural masterpiece indeed In the outermost corridors are situated the matchless musical pillars carved out of stones. When it is tapped, each pillar produces different musical note.
P.S.-There are many more such mandirs, which are architectural wonders! Do feel free to recommend in comments. I will try to add them here!
Sources:-
https://thehimalayanmeditationadipurusha.wordpress.com/
https://www.varanasiguru.com/ratneshwar-mahadev-temple/
https://www.sringeri.net/temples/sri-vidyashankara
https://karnatakatourism.org/tour-item/beluru/
https://morena.nic.in/en/tourist-place/mitawali
https://srirangamranganathar.hrce.tn.gov.in
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangam
https://madurai.nic.in/tourist-place/sri-meenakshi-sundareswarar-temple
2 Responses
Very Informative and Good collection of places …
Thanks Vimal