The Virateshwar temple of Sohagpur is an 11th-century Shiva temple near Shahdol in eastern Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the finest Kalachuri era Hindu temples to have survived in a partially damaged form into the modern era.
<p>The unusually tall and elaborately carved Kalachuri temple stands on a large jagati. The platform and surviving structures evidence that the temple had an ardhamandapa, mandapa with pyramidal roof, an antarala and a square garbhagriya. The temple elevation includes a peetha, vedibandha, jangha, varandika and a saptaratha-style sikhara. The corners of the towering sikhara has 21 bhumi amalakas. It is exquistely carved with Hindu religious and secular artwork. These include all major Hindu traditions, including Vaishnava, Shakta, Saura and Vedic deities. Further, artha, kama (mithuna), panels of Ramayana, Mahabharata and Panchatantra legends grace the outer walls. The temple has a sukhanasika with one of the most elegant Tandava Shiva in eastern Madhya Pradesh. These show a quality as fine as the Chandella and Paramara era artwork in Khajuraho and Hindu temples of western Madhya Pradesh.
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The outer wall artwork and the front of temple show signs of erosion as well as deliberate mutilation. Two beheaded Nandis flank the entrance. Inside the restored mandapa are recovered ruins on display. The doorway to the sanctum is finely carved, flanked by Ganga and Yamuna. The sanctum's lalatabimba has a Nataraja, and inside is a Shiva linga.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ms_Sarah_Welch" title="User:Ms Sarah Welch">Ms Sarah Welch</a>
2022-10-11 09:51:02
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>