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Deo Sun Temple is a
According to oral tradition, Lord Vishwakarma built the Deo Sun Temple in one night. A gupta-era inscription dated 642 CE talks about sun worshiping, but it does not mention the Deo Sun Temple directly. However, some inscriptions and local oral traditions do hint at the presence of temple around the 7th or 8th century CE.
Its written history can be traced back to the pala and senua periods, with an inscription from 1437 documenting the dedication of the template by King Bhairavendra. The inscription also lists twelve of King Bhairavendra's ancestors and suggests that the temple exists in its present state thanks to local Hindu chieftains who recovered the temple after
Hindu temple
A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...
in Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
, India. The temple is a solar shrine, dedicated to Surya
Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...
, the sun god, for Chhath
Chhath is an ancient Hindu festival, native to eastern India and southern Nepal. It is celebrated especially in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Eastern Uttar Pradesh; and Koshi, Gandaki, Bagmati, Lumbini and Madhesh province ...
Puja. The temple is located in Deo Town, Aurangabad
Aurangabad (), officially renamed as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in 2023, is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a ...
. The Temple is unique as it faces west, the setting sun, not the usual rising sun. It is considered to be one of the most sacred places for sun worshiping and Chhath Puja.
History
According to oral tradition, Lord Vishwakarma built the Deo Sun Temple in one night. A gupta-era inscription dated 642 CE talks about sun worshiping, but it does not mention the Deo Sun Temple directly. However, some inscriptions and local oral traditions do hint at the presence of temple around the 7th or 8th century CE.
Its written history can be traced back to the pala and senua periods, with an inscription from 1437 documenting the dedication of the template by King Bhairavendra. The inscription also lists twelve of King Bhairavendra's ancestors and suggests that the temple exists in its present state thanks to local Hindu chieftains who recovered the temple after Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji
Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bin Bakhtiyār Khaljī, also known as Bakhtiyar Khalji, was a Turko-Afghan Military General of the Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghor, who led the Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent, Muslim conquests of the easte ...
's invasion of Bengal
Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
. Since most sun temples face towards the rising sun, some scholars believe that this temple could have been a Buddhist temple originally, later being destroyed by Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji, and finally being converted to a sun temple by Bhairavendra.
Architecture and design
The temple is a mixture of Nagri Architecture,Dravidian architecture
Dravidian architecture, or the Southern Indian temple style, is an architectural idiom in Hindu temple architecture that emerged from Southern India, reaching its final form by the sixteenth century.
In contrast with North Indian temple styl ...
, and Vesara architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
. A dome shape is carved above the Dev Sun Temple, with a gold urn placed above the dome.
Cultural significance
The temple is famous for its annual Chhath festival celebration. Lakhs of devotees from all over Bihar and other regions visit temple to worship, attend Chhath Mela, bathe in the holy Surya Kund and offer arghya.See also
* Deo Fort * Deo TownReferences
Hindu temples in Bihar Rebuilt buildings and structures in India Deo, Bihar Surya temples Hindu temples sacked in the Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent {{india-hindu-temple-stub