History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c25.17

v2.c25.17

That the Moslims destroyed Hindû temples all over the south of Hindustan and in their raids into the Dekhan is certain, but it was not till the time of Aurangzîb that any of their monarchs felt himself sufficiently powerful or was so bigoted as to dare the power and enmity of the Brâhmans of Benares, by erecting a mosque on the site of one of their most sacred temples as an insult and a defiance to the Hindûs. Even then, had such a temple as the great one at Bhuvaneswar existed in Benares, every stone of which, from the ground to the kalas, is covered with carving, it seems remarkable that all these carved stones should be hid away and not one now to be found. But so it appears; still we know historically that there were many temples in the city, and during the pre-Mughal period the city was often sacked, whilst the river courses have changed and probably buried what the Moslim failed to destroy.