Arthuna is a town in Banswara district,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, India.

History

The old name of the place was Utthunaka. It was the capital of Paramara rulers of Vagad during eleventh-twelfth centuries A.D. They patronized both Jainism and Saivism simultaneously, so they constructed a number of

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

and Jain temples. Arthuna seems to have been one of the most important commercial centres in 11th-century Rajasthan. One inscription dated to 1080 is mostly unintelligible, but the parts that can be made out include a list of items sold at a ''hatta'' in Arthuna. This list includes barley, sugarcane,

jaggery Jaggery is a List of unrefined sweeteners, traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of Sugarcane juice, cane jui ...

, liquor, brass products, madder, betel leaves, salt, and possibly also "loads of grain" and cattle feed. The record also mentions at least two types of manufacturers present at Arthuna: ''kamsyakara''s, or

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

workers, and ''kalyapala''s, or liquor distillers. Arthuna formed the central node in a cluster of trade centres in southern Rajasthan; Talabad and Panahera are two others attested from contemporary sources.

Arthuna temple

An inscription of the Paramara prince Chamundaraja records that he built a temple of

called Mandalesa in honour of his father in A.D. 1079. Another inscription of A.D. 1080 mentions that his officer’s son named Anantapala also founded a temple of

. In a group of temples known as Hanumangarhi is located Nilakantha Mahadeva temple, besides other shrines and a stepped Kunda. There are three

temples. The place was associated with the Lakulisa sect of Saivism. The temples of Hanuman and Vishnu also belong to the early period. Bhushana built a Jaina temple in A.D. 1190. A few Jain pillars also being found at the site which were built probably after 11th century. Another temple at the site is of the Chaunsatha Yoginis. Galiakot and Banswara are the two nearby religious places for the Bohras. The nearest large town is Partapur.

Transport

Nearest international airport -

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

255 km.
Nearest airport - Udaipur 150 km.
Nearest railway station - Ratlam 115 km. Arthuna is 145 km away from Udaipur. One can get a bus for it from Ratlam from where it is at distance of 115 km. Area code for telephone is 0091-2963

References

Cities and towns in Banswara district Tourist attractions in Banswara district {{Udaipurdivision-geo-stub