Bharkuleswar Temple, Bhumara, Satna – History

Bharkuleswar Temple, Bhumara, Satna – History

The archaeologist Alexander Cunningham visited the Bhumara site to confirm local reports of Thari pathar (standing stone) during his 1873-1874 tour of the Central Indian region. He found the stone and the important Bhumra inscription which he published, but he missed the temple that was then mostly covered by forest of shrubs and mango, haritaki and amalaka trees. John Faithfull Fleet translated the inscription in 1888, and it mentioned two kings named Hastin and Sarvanatha. The pillar inscription also described the boundary between their kingdoms and gave an inscription date per ancient Indian calendar that equals 484 CE.

Decades later, over the 1919-1920 period, the Archaeological Survey of India sent a sketch artist named Wartekar and a photographer named Joglekar together to revisit the site. They aimed to check out the local villager claims of many temple ruins on the plateau and the northern face of the hills. The dense forest limited the extent of their search, but they found the Bhumara temple. They reported it to be small single cell structure with a slab roof near an unusual soil mound, and that the temple's door was "magnificently carved".

The first report indicated that stones were sticking out of the temple that suggested the temple was originally much bigger. They also reported that broken pillars and ruins surrounded it. The Archaeological Survey of India then sent a larger team, excavated the mound and discovered numerous sculptures. Among these were a chaitya-window shaped panel with a circular medallion and the sculpture of Ganesha, jumbled remains of mandapa and temple parts. The site was next cleaned up, cleared of the forest growth and the first repairs to the temple was undertaken in early 1920s. During this cleaning, clearing and repairs, states Banerjee, many more "sculptures and their fragments, pillar fragments, lintels, jambs with a number of images" were found.

The Bhumara Shiva temple has been variously dated. Early estimates in the 1920s placed it either in the second half of the 5^th century or the early 6^th century. With additional analysis of inscriptions and a comparative study of its design with other Gupta era temples, the temple is generally dated to late fifth century. According to Heather Elgood, it is a 5^th century temple. Frederick Asher dates it to about 475 CE. Michael Meister and others date it to late 5^th century. George Michell states that the precise dating of the Bhumara Shiva temple, Nachna Parvati temple and Deogarh Vishnu temple is uncertain, but they existed by the 6^th century.