History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c25.s13: Nâgdâ.
History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c25.s13
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Nâgdâ.
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Near the great temple of Eklingajî, about 12 miles north from Udaypur, is a group of scarcely known temples, that seem to range from the 12th century, if not earlier, to the 15th. They are on the western margin of the Bâghelâ-talâo, a large artificial lake, and belong to the remains of the ancient city of Nâgdâ or Nâgahrad, extending for about a mile in length. The temples are of white marble and belong to both the Jaina and Hindû religions, and form one of the most remarkable series on this side of India. Though the place is quite deserted and the temples much dilapidated, and whilst the sculptures have in many cases been much mutilated, they are of great beauty, and compare not unfavourably with those at Âbû.² The finest here are two Vaishnava temples, known as Sâs-bahû,³ standing, with other smaller shrines, on a raised platform or terrace. Below the terrace on the east is a handsome swing *torana* with four pillars in line. This is in front of the Bahû temple, which is the smaller and plainer of the two. Its mandap or portico is open and square, with extensions on the three sides, from which project the entrances, and is surrounded by a low screen wall on which stand fourteen short pillars supporting the roof, and so arranged that upon six of them—the inner pairs at each entrance—with two columns before the lobby of the shrine, the central dome rests. This is a somewhat exceptional but not altogether unusual arrangement. The shafts of the short pillars are 32-sided changing to round, and the two inner pillars are octagon below, then 16-sided and round above.
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² The editor paid a very hurried visit to them early in 1873.—‘Architecture and Scenery in Gujarat and Rajputana,’ pp. 28, 29, and plates 15, 16. Dr. Le Bon, during his tour in 1884, visited them, and published photographs of the Hindolâ torana or swinging arch, and three each of the Sâsu and Bahû temples, which he mistakenly calls ‘Banka’ and ‘Sasouka’ or ‘Sahaskot’ respectively.—‘Les Monuments de l’Inde,’ pp. 105-107, and figs. 111-118.
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³ ‘Mother and daughter-in-law,’ as at Gwâliar.
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The dome is very richly carved and ornamented by eight female figures supported on brackets, whilst blocks over the pillars at the joinings of the lintels bear figures of the eight mâtrîs or divine mothers. The screen wall is elaborately sculptured outside in a bold clear style, and is in a fair state of preservation. The shrine walls are very plain, and the sikhara is of brick—but of it the east face is ruined.
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A small temple of Mahâdeva or Siva, facing the south, stands on the platform a few yards to the south-east of this, consisting of a porch with two advanced pillars, and the shrine surmounted by a low spire of early style covered with carving; but the front has partly fallen away.¹ There are also three or four other temples surrounding the Bahû temple.
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¹ 'Architecture of Gujarat and Rajputana,' plate 16, right side.
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The Sâsu temple is the larger of the two and its hall is closed, with a porch and doorway on the east and lattice windows in projecting bays—about 4 ft. 9 in. deep on the north and south sides—carved in a very elaborate and unusual style. The hall, exclusive of these recesses, is 23 ft. square inside, and its roof is upheld by four massive pillars of the style of those in Vimala's temple at Âbû, and in many old Hindû temples, as at Ambarnâth. These pillars are connected by heavy toran arches, and the central area is covered by a richly carved dome with four brackets on the sides that once supported dancing figures. The other compartments of the roof are filled with intricate sculptures, but all are much besmeared with smoke. The entrance and roof of the front porch are covered with carving, and by the sides of the doorway are perforated screens; but the outside of the shrine is very plain—only the niches on the west, north and south, respectively, have images of Vishnu, Brahmâ and Siva. The sikhara and roof of the mandap are now mere heaps of brick. There is no image in the shrine nor any inscription to indicate the age of the temple, and it can only be tentatively ascribed to the 14th century: possibly it may be a little earlier and the Bahû shrine later.
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There is another pair of Vaishnava temples here, the smaller of which is covered with carving and has a pretty torana close in front of the entrance which faces north. The hall is square, and the upper portion of its walls is carved in panels filled with geometrical patterns such as were used in Muhammadan mosque and tomb windows in the 15th century and subsequently. There are also several Jaina temples among the ruins of Nâgdâ—one dedicated to Pârswanâth in 1429, and another called Adbudhajî’s erected in 1437 in the reign of Kumbhakarna, and further, a number of others of somewhat smaller dimensions of which, like the preceding, the sculptures are much injured, as well as parts of the structures, but which are of considerable interest and some of them of architectural beauty and importance. But until we have detailed surveys of them, these temples cannot be satisfactorily described.¹
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¹ The above is based on notes made in 1873, on Dr. G. Lebon’s photographs, and on the photographs and brief notes in the report of Mr. D. R. Bhândârkar in the ‘Progress Report of the Archæological Survey of India, Western Circle’ for 1904-1905.