Maladevi Temple is a
Jain temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
located in
Gyaraspur town of
Vidisha
Vidisha (विदिशा, formerly known as Bhelsa and known as Besnagar and Bhaddilpur in ancient times) is a city in Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Vidisha district. It is located 62.5 km north ...
in state of
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. It is a rock-cut temple built in Gurjara
Pratihara
The Pratihara dynasty, also called the Gurjara-Pratiharas, the Pratiharas of Kannauj or the Imperial Pratiharas, was a prominent medieval Indian dynasty which ruled over the Kingdom of Kannauj. It initially ruled the Gurjaradesa until its vic ...
style and dates back to the 850–900 CE worship site.
History
Maladevi Temple dates back to the 850–900 CE worship site. Epigraphist
Richard G. Salomon suggests that temple was originally built as Jaina-Brahmanical hybrid. An
Kalachuri inscription dating back to 850-885 CE, records the foundation of the temple during the reign of ''Valleka'' is preserved in
British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
.
Temple
Maladevi Temple is the largest and finest temple of Gyaraspur. It is famous for carvings and craftmanship, that are representative of post-
Gupta architecture. It is a rock-cut temple built in Gurjara
Pratihara
The Pratihara dynasty, also called the Gurjara-Pratiharas, the Pratiharas of Kannauj or the Imperial Pratiharas, was a prominent medieval Indian dynasty which ruled over the Kingdom of Kannauj. It initially ruled the Gurjaradesa until its vic ...
style. The temple was a constructed around a sanctified natural cavern as the
garbhagriha
A ''garbhagriha'' () is the innermost sanctuary of Hindu and Jain temples, often referred to as the "holy of holies" or " sanctum sanctorum".
The term ''garbhagriha'' (literally, "womb chamber") comes from the Sanskrit words ''garbha'' for ...
. The temple is rich with carvings of
tirthankara
In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...
s,
yakshi
Yakshinis or Yakshis (, , Prakrit: ) are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies that are different from Devas and Asuras and Gandharvas or Apsaras. Yakshinis and their male counterparts, the Yaks ...
, and
yaksha
The Yakshas (, , ) in Mythology are a broad class of nature spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Bud ...
. The temple consists of an entrance porch,
mandapa
A ''mandapa'' or ''mantapa'' () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture and Jain temple architecture.
''Mandapas'' are described as "open" or "closed" dependin ...
garbhagriha and lofty
shikhara
''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber ...
bearing rich carvings. The temple houses a number of
Jain idols, yet the figures of Goddesses on the outer door-frame and the name of the temple indicates that it was originally a Brahmical temple. The temple is dedicated to
Adinatha
Rishabhanatha (Devanagari: ऋषभनाथ), also Rishabhadeva (Devanagari: ऋषभदेव, ), Rishabha (Devanagari: ऋषभ, ) or Ikshvaku (Devanagari: इक्ष्वाकु, ''Ikṣvāku''), is the first (Supreme preacher) ...
.
The temple is considered one of the best examples of collections of varied Jain sculptures. The temple houses a carved idol of
Shantinatha
Śāntinātha () or Śānti is the sixteenth of Jainism in the present age (). According to traditional accounts, he was born to King Vishvasena and Queen Aćira of the Ikshvaku dynasty in the north Indian city of Hastinapur. His birth date i ...
in
lotus position
Lotus position or Padmasana () is a cross-legged sitting meditation posture, meditation pose from History of India, ancient India, in which each foot is placed on the opposite thigh. It is an ancient asana in yoga, predating hatha yoga, and ...
with a symbol of deer and four armed
yaksha
The Yakshas (, , ) in Mythology are a broad class of nature spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Bud ...
and
yakshi
Yakshinis or Yakshis (, , Prakrit: ) are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies that are different from Devas and Asuras and Gandharvas or Apsaras. Yakshinis and their male counterparts, the Yaks ...
. There is image of Goddess
Chakreshvari
In Jain cosmology, Chakeshvari or ''Apraticakra'' is the guardian goddess or Yakshini (attendant deity) of Rishabhanatha. She is the tutelary deity of the Sarawagi
The Sarawagi or Saraogi or Sarawgi Jain community, meaning a Jain Śrāvaka, ...
carved on the ''lalata-bimba''. An idol of
Parshvanatha dated 9th century is also enshrined inside the temple. The presence of images of 24 yaksha and yakshi inside the temple indicates the worship of each yaksha and yakshi during the 9th century.
The temple records various pilgrim sites such as ''Sobhasapranamati'', ''Baswanapranamati'', and ''Ambadevapranamati''. It also houses an eigh-handed idol of Goddess with
Tarapati engraved on leaves of lotus throne.
Gallery
File:MalaDevi Temple Gyaraspur N-MP-283 (53).jpg, Entrance
File:MalaDevi Temple Gyaraspur N-MP-283 (21).jpg, Carving of a yaksha
The Yakshas (, , ) in Mythology are a broad class of nature spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Bud ...
File:MalaDevi Temple Gyaraspur N-MP-283 (57).jpg, Carving of a yakshi
Yakshinis or Yakshis (, , Prakrit: ) are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies that are different from Devas and Asuras and Gandharvas or Apsaras. Yakshinis and their male counterparts, the Yaks ...
File:MalaDevi Temple Gyaraspur N-MP-283 (85) (cropped).jpg, Tirthankar carved on shikhara
''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber ...
File:MalaDevi Temple Gyaraspur N-MP-283 (45).jpg, Carving of kalasha
A kalasha, also called Pūrṇa-Kalaśa, Pūrṇa-Kumbha, Pūrṇa-Ghaṭa, also called ghat or ghot or kumbh ( , Telugu: కలశము Kannada: ಕಳಶ literally "pitcher, pot"), is a metal (brass, copper, silver or gold) pot with a large ...
on pillars
File:MalaDevi Temple Gyaraspur N-MP-283 (77).jpg, Richly carved courtyard
File:MalaDevi Temple Gyaraspur N-MP-283 (55).jpg, Richly carved window
File:MalaDevi Temple Gyaraspur N-MP-283 (107).jpg
Restoration
In 1930,
Gwalior
Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...
state stepped up to conserve Maladevi temple. Maladevi temple in Vidisha is protected by
Archaeological Survey of India
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...
.
See also
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Jain temples, Vidisha
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Bajramath temple
Bajramath Temple is a Jain temple located in Gyaraspur town of Vidisha in state of Madhya Pradesh, India.
History
Bajramath Jain Temple dates back to the 9th century. The temple was earlier a Brahmical temple dedicate to Surya but was tra ...
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Gadarmal Devi temple
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Udayagiri Caves
The Udayagiri Caves are twenty rock-cut caves near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh primarily denoted to the Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva from the early years of the 3rd century CE to 5th century CE. They contain some of the oldest surviving Hindu templ ...
References
Citations
Sources
Books
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Web
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External links
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{{Jainism Topics
Jain temples in Madhya Pradesh
9th-century Jain temples