The Chausath Yogini temple at Mitaoli (Mitawali, Mitavali) is a circular hypaethral hilltop goddess-tradition Hindu temple near the Bateshwar site with about 200 Hindu temples and the Padhavali site with a profusely carved Shiva temple.
<p>This circular Yogini temple is unusual when compared to other Chausath Yogini temples in India. Instead of 64 sanctum niches for 64 yoginis, it has 65 niches. Unlike all other niches here, the niche 37 is specially decorated with Hindu artwork. This suggests that this extra decorated niche was intentional and housed a special deity – probably also a goddess. The statues or aniconic symbols of the yoginis and special goddess are missing – probably destroyed or looted at some point of its history. Instead, some niches have Shiva linga – in a manner quite similar to the circular hypaethral temple in Kalna, West Bengal. Regional Hindus continued to visit and offers prayers, according to the earliest available scholarly mention of this temple. They refer to it as the Ekattatso Mahadeva Temple, rather than a Yogini temple.
</p><p>Like other Chausath Yogini temple, the center of this circular temple has a pavilion. It is more elaborate here, larger with two concentric rings of pillars. At the very center is a Shiva shrine which is consistent with the spiritual literature of the Shaktism Hindu tradition. The significance of this temple to the historic Bateswar–Mitawali–Padhavali college-monasteries complex is unknown.
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The temple is architecturally and geometrically remarkable. According to an inscription found here, it was built in the 11th century by king Devapala of Kachhapaghata dynasty. Mitawali itself, however, is far more ancient site. Excavations near this hill in the 20th-century have yielded deliberately mutilated and also naturally eroded statues and artwork from the Kushana era (2nd to 3rd century). These discoveries have been moved to museums, in particular the Gwalior Fort museum. In late 20th-century, the physical resemblance of this temple with the Sansad – the Indian parliament building in Delhi, led many to believe that this temple inspired the Sansad. However, this in untrue and this temple was unknown to the architects of Sansad.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ms_Sarah_Welch" title="User:Ms Sarah Welch">Ms Sarah Welch</a>
2021-12-16 10:55:14
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>