Mediaeval Temples of the Dakhan c13.s5: Lonār Crater and its Temples
Mediaeval Temples of the Dakhan c13.s5
- Language
- English
Lonār Crater and its Temples
c13.s5.1
At a short distance to the west of the town is what is supposed to be the crater of an extinct volcano, the only one known in the Dakhan. It is a great bowl-shaped hollow, five miles around at the top, and about three miles five hundred feet below, where a salt lake occupies the centre, surrounded by a wide margin of land between the bottom of the slope and the edge of the lake. The inner walls of the crater, which differ in nothing from ordinary hill-side covered with jungle and grass, slope down from the upper rim at an abrupt angle of 75° to 80° to the level belt around the lake. In the outer ring of this belt tamarind trees and date palms thrive, while the inner, nearest the lake, supports the bābul tree only. On the northern margin of the lake, where this belt of land is widest, are kitchen gardens and fruit trees watered by the stream which descends from the gaumukha above. The water of the lake is impregnated with a salt which is extracted and sold as a marketable article for use in washing and dying cloth. Although the water is so saturated with this salt, which causes it to give off a very offensive smell, yet in a well, sunk quite close to its edge on the south side, the water is perfectly fresh and is used for drinking purposes.
c13.s5.2
Down in the bottom of the crater, around the margin of the lake, are a number of old temples, and there are others in the descent to the lake from the gaumukha temple. From this temple, down to the lake, extends a ravine which is the only break in the continuity of the circular walls of the crater, and it is down the sides of this cleft that the pathway leads to the bottom. The head of the ravine bifurcates near the top, and it is at the head of the western branch that the spring is located from which the water is led through a gaumukha, or cow's mouth, cut in stone, into a small square tank in which Hindu pilgrims of both sexes, old and young, bathe promiscuously. The water is supposed to come from the Ganges, in proof of which it is said that a marked stick thrown into that river was found to emerge at the spring! A temple, and an accumulation of small cell-shrines, all of more or less modern growth, have sprung up around the tank. The Muhammadans had the audacity to invade this snuggery of the Hindus, and they actually began to build a mosque right in their midst, upon the western side of the sacred tank, but Were eventually stopped in their rash venture and were warned off. The foundation of the building still remains.
c13.s5.3
As most of the temples in the crater are in disuse, and have lost their names, I have numbered them, starting with this group as No. 1. About a third of the way down, standing upon the point of a spur between the two branches of the ravine, is another Śaiva temple, No. 2, partly rebuilt, but of no special interest. A short distance below this, on a low knoll, is the site of another temple, but the building has disappeared.
c13.s5.4
Beyond the last temple is No. 3, the most ornate of all. It stands at the bottom of the ravine on the outer edge of the gardens. It faces west, and consists of an open pillared *maṇḍapa* and shrine, but is in a sadly dilapidated condition, and the shrine is in ruins. The *maṇḍapa* had three porches. When intact it must have been as pretty a temple as any in the neighbourhood.
c13.s5.5
On the north margin of the lake, the gardens separating it from it, is No. 4. It is similar to Nos. 5 and 6, and is in ruins. It faces east and has a *liṅga* in the shrine.
c13.s5.6
No. 5 is a small plain temple to the north-west of the lake. It consists of a shrine and *maṇḍapa*, the outer walls being built in the plain block-in-course of the late "Hemāḍpanti" style, but it is much ruined. Beside it are the ruins of a small square cistern.
c13.s5.7
No. 6, a little further round towards the west, is a facsimile of the last, even to its ruinous state, and like it, it faces the east. The lower portion of the walls and the whole surface of the pillars are much weatherworn and corroded, but the beams, which are protected by the roof, are sharp and clean. The temple measures 40 by 20 feet, roughly. The roofing seems to have been of concrete and brickwork.
c13.s5.8
Almost due west of the lake is No. 7. It is of the same style as the last two, but almost twice as large and equally ruined. The temple faces east and has a *liṅga* in the shrine. During a late famine one or two rough pits were dug near by for water, which now contain a quantity, so foul-smelling and stagnant, that it is almost impossible to stand within fifty yards of them. This is probably due to the salt in the water that has percolated through from the lake, and which is supposed to be the blood and decomposed flesh of the giant Lavaṇāsura who was slain and buried in this den of his. The smell is strong corroboration of the story! Around the temple is a fine grove of banyan, tamarind, and custard apple trees, and palm tree stumps.
c13.s5.9
No. 9 is the more modern temple of Bhavānī Devī, which is due south of the lake and faces the north as most Devī temples do, such as that at Bārsi Tākli. It consists of a shrine and *maṇḍapa* with three doorways, and is conspicuous from afar by its coat of whitewash. In front of the main entrance is a small *yoni-kuṇḍa*, but the shape of the fire-pit, instead of being that of the *yoni*, is perfectly heart-shaped, with its point towards the east. Just behind the temple is a very small one, No. 8, in ruins, in which is a *liṅga*.
c13.s5.10
Temple No. 10 is on the south-east margin of the lake, and is much like Nos. 5 and 6, but not quite so much ruined, and is a trifle larger It faces the east. The roof of the *maṇḍapa* has been covered with concrete and brickwork in which an abundance of broken rock crystal has been used. The pillars are of the same pattern as those of the *dharmaśālā* at Mehkar.
c13.s5.11
About two hundred yards further on from the last is No. 11, a temple about as large as No. 7. It faces the north, and consists of a shrine with three porches, two of which are in ruins. Against the back wall of the shrine is a seat or throne for an image which is absent. It is possible that this was a *devī's* temple and it may have been the one that preceded the later one now in use, No. 9. The outer walls of the shrine are plain, in late “Hemādpanti” style, being in block-in-course with simple broad projecting bands.
c13.s5.12
Temples Nos. 12 and 13, together with a square *kuṇḍa*, form a group a little way up the hillside on the east of the lake. The two temples face the west. No. 12 being a Vaishṇava temple. It consists of a shrine and *maṇḍapa* with three porches, and is in a fairly good state of repair. The *maṇḍapa*, which was open all around, has been closed up with rough walling between the pillars. Above the shrine doorway is Garuda, and in the shrine is the ruined altar for an image. The pillars of the hall are much like those at Mehkar, plainly blocked out but without ornament. Upon the side of the west doorway is inscribed the name Vāsugī, which is the same name found upon the Mehkar building, and is, perhaps, that of a mason.
c13.s5.13
Temple No. 13 is slightly to the back and north of the last and is a Śaiva shrine in ruins. It has three porches, and the pillars are like those at Mehkar. In front of this, and to the side of No. 12, is a well built *kuṇḍa* or reservoir.
c13.s5.14
No. 14 is situated between the last and the lake, and is about the same size as Nos. 5 and 6. The exterior is plain, but the shrine is star-shaped in plan. The pillared *maṇḍapa* is in ruins, the pillars being slightly more ornate than at Mehkar. The temple faces the north and the shrine is half filled with earth.
c13.s5.15
Still nearer to the margin of the lake is the site of temple No. 15.
c13.s5.16
This completes the ring of temples around the lake in the bottom of the crater. Ascending, again, by the same ravine, but taking the eastern branch at the top, we come to the ruins of a small temple, No. 16. It faces the east and consists of a shrine, the remains of a pavilion in front of it, and a *kuṇḍa* beside it. It has plain undecorated walls, but the shrine door-frame is particularly well carved. The pavilion is supported upon four well-carved pillars which look like earlier work than anything else at the lake; and the ceiling is also well decorated with cusped ornament of the style of the work found in Tejaḥpāla’s temple at Mt. Ābu. The outer part of the roof has fallen.