Kankali Devi Temple, Tigawa,
Madhya Pradesh
Kankali Devi Temple is a Hindu
Temple dedicated to Goddess Chamunda located in Tigawa Village in the state of
Madhya Pradesh, India. The Kankali Devi Temple can be
easily classified among the earliest temples of India, built by the Gupta
dynasty.
History
For
brief details, please refer below link;
The Temple
This temple was originally
dedicated to Kankali Devi. The sanctum now houses a Murti of Lord Ugra Narasimha.
The Temple has a square sanctum with a 12.5 feet (3.8 m) side outside and
8 feet (2.4 m) side inside. The sanctum does not open exactly to the
east, but deviates by about 13 degrees, which Cunningham speculated may be
intentional and related to "one nakshatra" (lunar house, Hindu
calendar). The temple has an open portico supported on four pillars that
projects 7 feet (2.1 m) in front of the sanctum. Both the pillared
porch and the sanctum are on a raised plinth, its roof made from horizontal
slabs of stone.
The pillars of the mandapa are
massive, shaped into three symmetric cross sections: a long square
sectioned part close to the ground, above it an octagonal and sixteen-edged.
Above these is a circular part capped with pot and foliage capitals. On
top of the pillars are sculptures of two crouching lions with a tree separating
them. The pillars are identical in all respects except the tree: one pillar has
a mango tree, another a palm, while the other two trees unclear. The portico
was partially walled later, according to Percy Brown.
The temple door jambs are
intricately carved, in vertical bands that are concentric around the entrance.
On top left of the entrance wall is river goddess Ganga holding a water vessel
and riding her crocodile vahana, while the top right has river goddess Yamuna also
holding a water vessel while riding her tortoise vahana. Goddess Ganga is
plucking a fruit from custard-apple tree, while Yamuna is plucking one from a
mango tree. The Kankali Devi Temple has reliefs showing Vishnu and
generally considered to have been dedicated to Vishnu of Vaishnavism.
The portico has an image of the Sheshashai Vishnu (Narayana).
Another shows Varaha, the man-boar avatar of Vishnu.
In front of the temple is a
seated Vishnu image in yoga asana position with serpent hood above the head,
similar to seated Tirthankaras and the Buddha. The temple also reverentially
displays Shaktism
and Shaivism
themes, including a Chamunda (Kankali Devi) panel which gives the temple its
name. On the wall opposite to Kankali Devi is Kali Devi (fierce form of Durga).
There is one special thing about the statue of Goddess Kali, during Navratri
the neck of Kali’s statue is slightly tilted from its original position. Cunningham
proposed that these Shaiva and Vaishnava reliefs were probably added around the
8th century.
The Kankali Devi temple is
similar to the Gupta period Temple #17 at Sanchi,
with both illustrating the basic elements of Hindu sacred architecture. The
temple style is also similar to the Hindu cave temples of Udayagiri and the
Eran temple, both of which can be dated to be from the Gupta era because of the
inscriptions found there. A 7th or 8th Century CE
Sanskrit inscription mentions the visit of a Umadeva of Kanyakubja, son of
Samanya Bhatta, who had come to worship at the temple of Sitabhadra. There are
also two inscriptions in Sankha
Lipi, one is highly floriated and other very indistinct. This temple
complex probably housed many other temples, which is quite evident from the
vast ruins spread across the complex of which only 2 survive today.
Connectivity
The Temple is located at about 3
Kms from Bahoriband, 30 Kms from Sleemanabad Road Railway Station, 30 Kms from Sihora
Road Railway Station, 46 Kms from Katni, 72 Kms from Jabalpur Railway Station, 73
Kms from Jabalpur, 83 Kms from Jabalpur Airport and 339 Kms from Bhopal. From
Jabalpur, take NH7 which goes to Katni. After crossing Sihora there is turn
towards Bahuriband. Tigawa is situated on Bahuriband-Bakal road, state highway
31 after crossing Bahuriband. Tigawa complex is on main road only and road
condition was very good.
Location
Thank You So Much For This Wonderful Information ❤️✨
ReplyDelete