History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c19.s2: Bhūbharā [Bhūmarā] Voussoir Bricks
History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Nāga–Vākāṭaka Imperial Period c19.s2
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Bhūbharā [Bhūmarā] Voussoir Bricks
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[Reverse Side]
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[Obverse Side]
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while Nachnā is in Ajaygarh. Durehā is in Jāso. There were two large towns in the early centuries—one on the site of Ganj-Nachnā and the other at Khoh. These were twins, united and separated by the chain of the mountain on the top of which was situated the Temple of the so-called ‘Bhūmarā’, more common and correct pronunciation being Bhūbharā. The temple is near the village Majhgawān (‘the middle village’), at a distance of 1½ miles from the village Bhūbharā [which everyone I met at the locality and at Nagod called by this name].
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Bhūbharā is a village of the Goṇḍs, who have features as in Bharahut sculptures.¹ Bharahut and Bhūbharā are within Nagod territory and within about twenty miles from each other as the crow flies. In the middle lies Uch-harā, the residential fort of the Rajas of Nagod.
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¹ See Plate VI. Female types have a still greater resemblance.
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There was a brick-wall round the temple of Bhūbharā. Thousands of bricks still lie in a square round the temple remains. Most of these bricks where I examined the heap (East Gate) disclosed Brāhmī letters of c. 200 A.D. I have brought to the Patna Museum two such bricks. They are important as affording some reliable data on the date of the temple. The letters on the rough bottom-side read darva-ārā[la] on one and darva (l. 1) -ārālā (l. 2) on the other.² Darva is ‘hood’ and ārāla or ārālā is ‘arch’, from ārā, ‘segment of a circle’, ‘a spoke’; cf. Sanskrit arāla. These marked bricks are, as a matter of fact, voussoir bricks. Arā seems to mean a voussoir, and in ārālā we seem to discover the technical architectural Hindu term for the horse-shoe arch. The name darva-ārālā, ‘hood-arch’, may refer to the shape of the arch, or to the purpose of accommodating hoods of Nāga images. It is evident that the outer wall of the temple had niches with round arches for reception of images. The smooth face of one brick has a clear bhū inside a bigger letter which is a large bhā. This large letter is followed by a large rā and a ya with an anusvāra.
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² See Plates VII and VIII. The surface of the bricks has been made lighter to bring out the lettering in the photograph.
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The whole inscription reads *Bhūbhārāyam*, ‘at Bhūbhārā.’ The other brick on the top-side has *ā* at the left corner and *rā* at the right. They have arrow-marks to show the correct direction to the mason. The bricks are voussoir bricks in shape. The measurements of the bricks are: (1) 7" × 8" × 9" (one side broken, at present 6", originally probably 8" like the opposite side); the thickness is 2½", and the fabric very strong; (2) 8" × (7", broken) 9". It seems that bricks were made below the hill and were marked for *Bhūbhārā* which was evidently the name of the hill where the temple was built. Probably bricks were made together for several buildings and were thus allocated.
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There being no inscription on the stone remains of the ‘Bhūmarā’ temple, the brick inscriptions are very useful in fixing the age of the temple. The temple cannot be later than 200 A.D., it should be, as the letter-forms certainly indicate, of about 150-200 A.D.
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The name of the mukhalingam, now lying flat in the temple, is *Bhākul dev*, according to the tradition current at Majhgawāñ and the neighbourhood. This seems to stand for *Bhāra-kula-deva*, ‘the Deity of the Bhāra-kula (dynasty)’. The date of the bricks would warrant the inference that probably this was the Śiva-lingam founded by the Bhāra-Śiva king mentioned in the Vākāṭaka inscriptions. In any case its period is the Bhāraśiva period.
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There are place-names in the neighbourhood, e.g. *Bharaḥaṭā* and *Bharauli*. Near Satna there is *Bharjunā* where ancient sculptures are found. Pre-eminently in the same group of nomenclature and area stands the well-known Bharahut.
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*Bhūbhārā* [village] marked the boundary between the Gupta empire and the Vākāṭaka kingdom during the Gupta period, according to the boundary pillar inscription of Bhūbhārā (*thāṛī pāṭhar*) which is traceable at present in the jungles. Bhūbhārā and Majhgawāñ are in the thick of the jungle. We found fresh foot-prints of a pair of huge tigers who had walked back by the time of our return over our shoe-marks. Reports of similar temples on the hill still existing have reached me. The hill should be explored.
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[Reverse Side]
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a [Obverse Side]