5/5 Maneesha M. 3 years ago on Google
The
Masrur
Temples,
also
referred
to
as
Masroor
Temples
or
Rock-cut
Temples
at
Masrur,
is
an
early
8th-century
complex
of
rock-cut
Hindu
temples
in
the
Kangra
Valley
of
Beas
River
in
Himachal
Pradesh,
India.[2]
The
temples
face
northeast,
towards
the
Dhauladhar
range
of
the
Himalayas.[1]
They
are
a
version
of
North
Indian
Nagara
architecture
style,
dedicated
to
Shiva,
Vishnu,
Devi
and
Saura
traditions
of
Hinduism,
with
its
surviving
iconography
likely
inspired
by
a
henotheistic
framework.
Though
a
major
temples
complex
in
the
surviving
form,
the
archaeological
studies
suggest
that
the
artists
and
architects
had
a
far
more
ambititious
plan
and
the
complex
remains
incomplete.
Much
of
the
Masrur's
temple's
sculpture
and
reliefs
have
been
lost.
They
were
also
quite
damaged,
most
likely
from
earthquakes.[1]
The
temples
were
carved
out
of
monolithic
rock
with
a
shikhara,
and
provided
with
a
sacred
pool
of
water
as
recommended
by
Hindu
texts
on
temple
architecture.[1]
The
temple
has
three
entrances
on
its
northeast,
southeast
and
northwest
side,
two
of
which
are
incomplete.
Evidence
suggests
that
a
fourth
entrance
was
planned
and
started
but
left
mostly
incomplete,
something
acknowledged
by
the
early
20th-century
colonial
era
archaeology
teams
but
ignored
leading
to
misidentification
and
erroneous
reports.[1]
The
entire
complex
is
symmetrically
laid
out
on
a
square
grid,
where
the
main
temple
is
surrounded
by
smaller
temples
in
a
mandala
pattern.
The
main
sanctum
of
the
temples
complex
has
a
square
plan,
as
do
other
shrines
and
the
mandapa.
The
temples
complex
features
reliefs
of
major
Vedic
and
Puranic
gods
and
goddesses,
and
its
friezes
narrate
legends
from
the
Hindu
texts.[1][2]
The
temple
complex
was
first
reported
by
Henry
Shuttleworth
in
1913
bringing
it
to
the
attention
of
archaeologists.[3]
They
were
independently
surveyed
by
Harold
Hargreaves
of
the
Archaeological
Survey
of
India
in
1915.
According
to
Michael
Meister,
an
art
historian
and
a
professor
specializing
in
Indian
temple
architecture,
the
Masrur
temples
are
a
surviving
example
of
a
temple
mountain-style
Hindu
architecture
which
embodies
the
earth
and
mountains
around
it.[1]