The Rudra Narasimha temple of Ramtek is among the oldest surviving Hindu temples in Maharashtra. Built between 400 and 425 CE, it is one of two ancient temples in Ramtek that are dedicated to Narasimha – the man-lion avatar of Vishnu. It is about 100 meters from the Kevala Narasimha temple. Both are built from red sandstone, both follow the classic Hindu architecture, but the Rudra Narasimha temple is older by about 20 years than the more sophisticated Kevala Narasimha temple.
<p>The Rudra Narasimha temple was built by Queen Prabhavati Gupta who succeeded to the throne after her husband Rudrasena died. She ruled the Vakataka empire for about 20 years (c. 390–410 CE). She built the Rudra Narasimha temple to commemorate her husband. This temple is, thus, not only important for insights into the Vishnu tradition of Hinduism around 400 CE, it also attests to the significance and influence of Hindu women in the religious traditions of ancient India.
</p><p>The Rudra Narasimha temple is quite similar to the Kevala Narasimha temple. Both have a mandapa and a garbhagriya under a flat roof, as with early stone temples in Hindu architectural history. There are a few differences. For example, the Rudra Narasimha temple lacks stone windows, while Kevala Narasimha temple has stone windows to allow light into the sanctum. The Rudra Narasimha temple is simpler, which hints that it was built earlier and the more refined Kevala Narasimha temple learned and implemented more innovative features into the temple architecture.
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The Narasimha statue inside the Rudra Narasimha temple sanctum is nearly identical to the Kevala Narasimha temple. Both are equally impressive. He is two armed, holds a chakra in his right hand. The two Narasimha temples of Ramtek attest to the extraordinary skills of Indian artisans by the late 4th century and early 5th century.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ms_Sarah_Welch" title="User:Ms Sarah Welch">Ms Sarah Welch</a>
2021-10-18
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>