MAJOR TEMPLES AND SCLUPTURES OF RAJASTHAN | RAS EXAM

INTRODUCTION

Rajasthan has been mainly a state of Hindu community; therefore, it has large numbers of temples built here. Early centuries temples like Temples of Matasya state and Abhaneri temple of Harshamata were specially designed in Mahamaru style.            Temple of Usha

• It is located in Bayana of Bharatpur and was built by Banasur.
• A beautiful architecture based on a love epic.
• It was later renovated by Ling lakshmansen’s wife Chitralekha and daughter Manglaraj in 336 A.D.

         Eklingji Temple

• Four-sided face (charmukhi) Shiva temple is placed in Nagda near Udaipur.
• Eklingji is regarded as deity of Mewar rulers.
• It was constructed by Bappa Rawal and renovated by Mohal
• There is an inscription in the south gate.

          Temple of Saas Bahu

• It is near Eklingi ji temple in Nagda.
• Originally it was named as Sahashrabahu which is of Lord Vishnu.
• It is styled in Mahamaru and Solanki.
• There is big temple called as Saas Mandir while small temple buildings around it are known as Bahu Mandir.

           Shiva Temple of Kansua

• It is situated in Kota city.
• There is an 8^th century old rock inscription of Shiva written in Kutiya script on the left side of the wall.
• It is said that first ray of the sun in the morning falls on the Shivalinga in the temple.

          Kapil Muni Temple

• It is located in the Kolayat of Bikaner.
• It is known as holy place of Kapil Muni.
• There are 5 temples and 52 Ghats at the lake near this temple.
• One of the biggest fairs of the Jangal Pradesh is organized on every Purnima of shukhla paksh of Kartik month.

          Madhuradish Temple

• A temple devoted to Lord Krishna which is placed in Patanpol of Kota.
• Vitthalnath ji, son of Vallabhcharya, established this temple and therefore, it is the main seat of Vaishnav sect.

          Vibhishan temple

• This is the only temple of Vibhishan in India situated in Kothun town of Kota.
• It belongs to a period somewhere between 3^rd- 5^th
• The idol does not have any body, there is only head which is worshipped.

          Kiradu temple

• It is located in Hashchma village in Barmer, below the Mount Haldeshwar.
• There have been found remains of 5 ancient temples,out of which one is of Vishnu and other four belongs to Shiva.
• One belongs to famous Someshwar temple.
• On these remaining idols there are paintings depicting scenes of Ramayana, Sagar Manthan and Mahabharata, Krishna Leela.
• It is also known as Treasure of Idols.

          Temple of Mallinath Ji

• It is present in Tilwara of Barmer and it is also the tomb of Mallinath ji.
• People worship him as a Lok Devta.
• In every Chaitra month a huge animal fair is organized from Krishna paksh Ekadashi to Shukhla paksh Ekadashi.

          Harshanath Temple

• The temple is situated at 3000 ft. above on Mount Harshanath near Sikar.
• It is designed in Mahamaru style of architecture.
• Vigrahraj IV, ruler of Ajmer built it in 656 A.D.
• In 18^th century, Raoraja Shiv Singh of Sikar constructed a new building.
• On the thirteenth day (triyodashi) of every Bhadrapad month, a huge fair is organized.

          Khed temple of Ranchhod Rai Ji

• It was built in Vikram Samvat 1230.
• There is a giant idol of Sheshshyan Vishnu in the temple.
• A fair is organized every year on Radhaashtmi.

          Khatu Shyam Ji Temple

• Khatu Shyam ji temple is situated in Sikar district.
• The foundation of the temple was laid down by Abhay Singh, Sisodia ruler of Ajmer.
• Head part of Barbari, a character of Mahabharata, is worshipped here in the form of Lord Krishna in Kalyug.
• Eleventh and twelfth day of Fagun month is celebrated every year as festive fair.
• People come traveling on foot from distant places.

          Ganga Temple

• A beautiful architect of red-colored stone on 84 pillars, located in Bharatapur.
• The temple structure is raised above ground on a chauki (stool) and has large aangan (open space) around it.
• It has been built in Nagar style.
• Temple was founded by Maharaja Balwant Singh in 1846 but idol of Ganga was installed in 1937 by Maharaj Brijendra Singh.

          Govind Dev Ji Temple

• Sawai Jai Singh brought two twin Idols of Radhakrishna from Vrindavana and established Govind Dev ji temple in Palace of Jaipur.
• It a beautiful centre of artistic craft and regarded as important holy place of Godiya sect.

          Goth Maglod

• A temple devoted to Dadhimati, a nurse (dai maa) worshipped as deity of Brahmins.
• It is situated in the Nagaur district at the border of Goth and Maglod.
• It was built in Pratihar style during 9^th
• It has depiction of Ramayana on the inner wall and an idol of Ganesha on the south side and Shemankari on western side.
• It has Sapthbhum naat shikar of Nagar style.

            Jagat Shiromani Mandir

• It was built by Raja Man Singh in Amber in remembrance of his son Jagat Singh.
• It is made of red-coloured stones in Nagar style.
• There is a black idol of Lord Krishna.
• It is presumed that this idol was brought from Chittor where Meera Bai worshiped it.
• Toran Dwar is uniquely designed. The architecture of the temple is exceptional.

            Temple of Jeenamata

• Jeenamata is considered as deity of Chuahan
• It has an idol of Asthbhuja.
• It is situated on Mount Harsh in Ralawata village of Sikar.

          Ambika Temple of Jagat

• It is located in Amba Devi near Udaipur.
• The temple is divided into three parts – a Sabha Mandap, one big temple and a small temple of Jal Pranalika.
• At 50 metres distance, there is Nritya (dance) Mandap where postures of Durga is depicted.
• The idol of the Durga is Kshemkari Vigrah. Images of dancing and singing Apsara are also there.
• Idols of Uma, Saraswati and Mahishamardini is placed inside the temple.

            Sun Temple of Jhalarapattan

• Situated in the district Jhalawar, the main idols of the temple are the Sun and Vishnu with a chariot.
• It was designed in Nagar style in 10^th century.
• It has shrine sanctorum, Toran Dwar and a Sabha Mandap.
• Lord Shiva, Parvati and Kuber idols are placed on the chariot.
• There is a famous Trimukh idol of Sun God.
• It also has image of Lord Shiva performing tandav.
• This has Pragriv style.

          Dwarkadhish Temple

• It was built in 1671 by Maharaja Raj Singh in Kankroli village of Rajsamand.
• It is among the temple of Pushtimarg.
• Murals depicting Lord krishna’s childhood time in Mewari style.

          Jain temple of Delwara

• It is situated in Mount Abu.
• White marbles have been used to build 5 temples.
• First temple was built by Vimalshah, minister of King Bhimdev of Gujarat and dedicated to Aadinath.
• Vastupal and his brother Tejpal made two other temples after 100 years.
• It is compared to pan style of Greece and Church of West Minster Abbey of England.
• The structure has Nagar style.
• There is only 1 Jain Digambar temple and rest are Shwetamaber temples.
• Second temple is of Tirthankar Neminath built in 1230.
• Images of Saraswati, Lakshmi, Padmavati and Sheetla goddesses are carved out on the dome of the temple.
• All these idols are installed in 57 Devarias.

         Nakati Mata Temple (Bhawnipur)

• It is called as Nakati Mata temple for it has irregular shaped idols.
• It is situated on Jaipur-Ajmer route.
• Stone idols of Ganesha, Skand and Saptabhumi sitting on a lion can be found there.
• At the entrance, there are images of Nagrah carved out on Maladhari chariot, Roop stambh and Patravalli.
• Vishnu’s vehicle Garud is also drawn there.

          Neelkanth Temple

• Shiva temple belongs to 10^th century, situated in Padanagar of Alwar.
• Idol of Shiva is made of black quartz stone.
• Other temples of Vishnu, Brahma and Narsingh are also there.
• The statue of Surya along with Shiva who is targeting at Tripurasur with his bow while Nandi is under his hump.

          Ranakpur Temple

• It is situated in Falna and Sadri in Pali
• It was constructed by Deyak Brahmin on the order of Dharnak, a confidant of Kumbha.
• It has 85 Shikhar, 24 Mandap, 1444 pillars and 25 stairs.
• It has Adinatha idol inside whereas temple of Parsvanatha is in front of it.
• Hoop of the temple is of 48 thousand square foot.

          Surya temple of Toos

• It is present on the banks of the river Bedach in Udaipur.
• It is regarded as holy worship place by Saur sect.
• There is a dome of octangular shape above and eight pillars on which statue of Mitrika has been engraved.
• There are remaining of the paintings on the pillars showing the Sun in sitting posture along with one Apsara on each side.

          Ranakpur’s Sun Temple

• It is situated in Pali.
• Lord Sun is sitting on a chariot which is being pulled by eight horses.
• On the outer wall of the sanctorum there is an image of seven horses and other god and goddesses.

          Samadhishwar Temple

• Also known as temple of Mokal, this temple is in Chittor.
• Information about this temple is also given Kumbhalgarh Inscription.
• According to the Kumar Pal inscription of 1150, it is a Jain temple built by Chalukya King Naresh Kumar Pal.
• In the form of Vamdev, Sadjyot and Bhairav, Lord Shiva has been symbolised.
• It has Jain Idpols of Yaksh, Yakshini and Munindra.

          Osian Sun Temple

• In the form of Panchayatan, this temple is located in Osian village of Jodhpur.
• It is dedicated to Lord Lakshminarayan and Lord Sun.
• Statues of Mahishamardini and Balram and Vishnu is there at the entrance gate.
• On the south direction of the temple, there is Kund and Vyapi.
• It has balconies in form of Ramnak and pillars decorated with Ghatpallav.

         Temple of Srinath Ji

• It is situated near Banas river in Nathdwara of Rajsamand district.
• Gusain ji and Damodar Tilkayat brought the idol of Srinath ji to Jodhpur from Vrindavana to save it from Aurangzeb.
• It was later, taken to Mewar by Maharaja Raj Singh in 1669 A.D.
• There is a seven coloured flag always hoisted above the temple.

         The Temple of Meera Bai

• It was built in the courtyard of the Chittorgarh fort just near to Kumbh Shyam temple.
• It was constructed in Indo-Aryan style by Maharana Sanga.
• It has black-coloured idol of lord Krishna.
• Later, Maharaja Sajjan Singh also installed Kalika Mata idol in the sanctorum after it got destructed by the attack of the Mughals.

         Matrikundiya Temple

• It is located near Chandrabhaga river in Chittorgarh.
• Also known as Haridwar of Rajasthan.
• Here, ashes of the deceased people are immersed.

          Brahma Temple

• A very famous temple situated in Pushkar of Ajmer.
• It was constructed by Guru Shankaracharya but later renovated by Gokul Chand Pareek in 1809.
• It has a life-size chaturmukhi idol of Brahma.

          Varah Temple

• It was constructed by Arnoraj, the grand-father of Prithviraj Chauha in Pushkar.
• It was refurbished by Saga, brother of Pratap during the period of Akbar.
• It was wrecked by the Aurangzeb but it again got constructed by Sawai Jai Singh of Jaipur in 1727.

          Salasar Hanuman Temple

• It is situated in the Churu
• A farmer, Mohandas, found an idol of Hanuman ji in the fields in 1737.
• The Idol have beard and mustache and placed on a golden throne.
• Every Poornima of Bhadrapad, Ashwin, Chaitra and Baisakh month, a fair is organized.

          Bhartrihari Temple

• A temple dedicated to the great king Bhartrihari of Ujjain is situated in the Sariska of Alwar.
• Bhartrihari took samadhi in this place.
• In month of Bhadrapad and Baisakh, fairs are organized.
• It is also known as Kumbh of the Sadhus with pierced ears (Kanphate).

          Mehandipur Balaji

• It is located on the border of Dausa and Karoli district.
• The idol is not crafted by man rather it is carved out of the mountain.
• There are temples of Bhairav ji and Pretraj along with this.
• Every Navratras and on Hanuman Jayanti, fairs are organized.

          33 crore Devi Devta Temple

• There is a saal of 33 crore devi devta in Mandore of Jodhpur.
• It is also known as Veero ki Saal.

         Charbhuja Temple

• A temple dedicated to Meera bai in the Merta city of Nagaur.
• It is also known as Charbhuja Nath Mandir.
• Rao Duda, the grandfather of Meera Bai built this.
• There are also statues of Tulsidas and Raidas.

          Kalyan Ji Temple

• It is located in Diggi (Malpura) of Tonk.
• Mewar ruler Maharana Sangram Singh built this temple.
• It has four-faced idol of Lord Vishnu.
• Muslims also worship this place and name it as Kalyan Pir.
• Largest fair of the state is organized here in month of Sharavana.
• Fairs are also organized on the eleventh day (Ekadashi) of the Shukla paksh Bhadrapad and Poornima of Baisakh months.

          Rishabhdev ji Temple

• A three feet high black stone idol of Adi Tirthankar Lord Risabhdev is there in the temple.
• He is called as Kalaji by the locals.
• Bheels worship the aan of the Kalaji.
• The internal structure of the temple is divided in 5 parts – Ardhmandap, Mahamandap, Antral, Garbhgraha and Pradikshin Path.
• It is constructed in Nirandhar

         OTHER IMPORTANT FACTS:

• The first dated temple of Rajasthan is of Sheetaleshwar Mahadev in Jhalarapattan.
• The temple of Adhbhutnathji at Nagda is famous for big idols.
• Another temple of Bhrama ji is situated in Asotara of Barmer.
• Mandaleshwar temple is situated in Arthuna which was capital of the Parmars.
• Sacchika mandir of the Osian was built by King Vatsraj.
• An eleven years old temple of Sawai Bhoj Devnarayan temple in Asind of Bhilwara got collapsed in 2006.
• There are several temples in Kiradu of Barmer belonging to 12^th and 13^th
• Viratra Mata temple is located in Barmer. She is regarded as Kul Devi of Bhopa
• Harshamata temple in Bandikui was highly regarded by the people of the Shakti cult in earlier times.