The Trivikrama temple of Ramtek is from the 5th century Vakataka period. Only a part survives, and this includes a red sandstone mandapa and mutilated parts of the Trivikrama avatar of Vishnu. This is a part of an ASI protected site.
<p>The temple stood on a jagati, had an open square plan. The artistic details here are similar in quality to those found at the Varaha and Narasimha avatar temples in Ramtek. Some of the artwork style is found in the historic Kumra Hindu monastery and the Mukundara temple. A dado of dwarf figures are still visible on the mandapa in front of the Trivikrama statue.
</p><p>The statue itself likely had eight arms (all chopped off and lost to history). It has a siraschakra (equivalent of halo in ancient Indian art), likely had a crown, necklace, bracelets on the arms, a udarabandha (jewelry around the belly), and wears a dhoti (a traditional Hindu dress on lower part of the body).
</p><p><b>Overview:</b>
Ramtek is a city midst hills about 45 kilometers northeast of Nagpur in Maharashtra, India. It is one of the few places from ancient India whose history and significance as a tirtha (pilgrimage site) can be traced for over 1,600 years.
</p><p>Ramtek is called Ramagiri, Sinduragiri, Tapamgiri, or Tapogiri in historic inscriptions and manuscripts. It was a natural hub of trade routes that connected historic <i>pura</i> (cities) in northern India and kingdoms along the Ganges basin in eastern India to central and south India. This brought pilgrims, merchants, monks and scholars through Ramtek, earning it mentions in Buddhist, Hindu and Jaina literature.
</p><p>Ramtek is mentioned in pre-1st century BC texts. It has copious archaeological evidence from the Vakataka era (4th-century onwards). This evidence is spread over about 10 kilometer radii from modern Ramtek. These include temple ruins, pushkarini, inscriptions in different languages and scripts, Hindu and Jain artwork, some of oldest known Ganesha statues in India, secular Hindu statues such as the "Man with a Book" that is now preserved in the Nagpur museum.
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This ancient city has notable and reasonably preserved evidence of Vakataka, Chalukya, Yadava, Vijayanagara, Maratha and modern era Hindu and Jain monuments. It also has a few Buddhist monuments that is colocated with Hindu and Jain sites. The quality of historic artwork found in and around Ramtek is among the finest anywhere in South Asia.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ms_Sarah_Welch" title="User:Ms Sarah Welch">Ms Sarah Welch</a>
2021-10-18 07:32:09
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>