Chaturbhuj Temple, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh

Chaturbhuj Temple, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh

Chaturbhuj Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu, located in Gwalior City in Gwalior District in Madhya Pradesh, India. This is a small temple excavated from a single solid rock, situated inside Gwalior fort. The temple was earlier famous for the earliest known inscription in the world that uses the symbol "0" to mean zero but now Bakhshali manuscript is regarded as the earliest to use zero symbol. The temple is on the way upstairs to the main gate of the Gwalior fort.

The Temple

This is a small temple excavated from a single solid rock, situated inside Gwalior fort. The temple follows Pancharatha style. The temple consists of sanctum and four pillared mukha mandapa. The pillars in the Mukha Mandapa depicts various scenes from Krishna Leela. There is an inscription in the pillar of Mukha Mandapa dating to the reign of the Pratihara ruler, Mihir Bhoja Deva. The pillars also contain reliefs of person meditating in yoga asana position and amorous couples.

There is a covered pillared Mandapa to the right side of Mukha Mandapa. The sanctum is with a square plan of 12 feet (3.7 m) side and mukha mandapa is 10 feet by 9 feet in measurement. The sanctum doorway was flanked by river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna. The lintel of the sanctum door has an image of Vishnu over lalata-bimba. The inscription found on the sanctum lintel praises Varaha and Trivikrama incarnation of Vishnu.

There is a wall relief of Varaha (boar avatar) and another of four armed Vishnu inside the Temple. It also has a carving of goddess Lakshmi with four arms. The name of the temple might be derived from four armed Vishnu and Lakshmi.  The tower (Shikhara) of the temple is North Indian Nagara style, that slowly curves with a square plan, all carved out of the monolithic rock.

Varaha, Vishnu and Trivikrama can be found on the bhadra niches on the external walls. Ganesha, Parvati and Karthikeya can be found on the lower bhadra niches on the external walls. Carvings of six of the eight Ashtadikpalakas (Agni, Yama, Nriti, Varuna, Vayu and Kubera) can be found at their respective positions. Sculptures of various incarnations of Lord Vishnu can be found around the walls and pillars of the Temple.

Inscriptions

The temple was earlier famous for the earliest known inscription in the world that uses the symbol "0" to mean zero but now Bakhshali manuscript is regarded as the earliest to use zero symbol. There is an inscription on the front door written in Sanskrit. The inscriptions runs for 27 lines. It is dated to 932 Vikrama Era i.e. 875 CE. It mentions that this temple was constructed by Alla, the son of Vaillabhatta. It is this inscription that also contains one of the earliest known uses of the mathematical zero.

The inscription states that the community planted a garden of 187 hastas by 270 hastas (1 hasta = 1.5 feet), that the garden yielded 50 garlands for the temple every day. The last digits of 270 and 50 are "O" shaped. While Indian and non-Indian texts mention zero much earlier, this temple has the earliest known epigraphical evidence inscribed in stone that already knows and uses the concept of zero. There is an inscription of Bhoja Deva dated to 933 Vikrama Era i.e. 876 CE. The inscription mentions about four donations made to two temples by Alla.

Connectivity

The Temple is located at about 3 Kms from Gwalior, 3 Kms from Gwalior Bus Stand, 4 Kms from Gwalior Railway Station and 13 Kms from Gwalior Airport. Gwalior is well connected to other parts of Madhya Pradesh and India by national and state highways. The Agra – Mumbai National highway (NH 3) passes through Gwalior. The city is connected to the Jhansi by the National Highway 75, towards the south of the city.

The northern part of the city is connected to the city of Mathura via National Highway 3. There are bus services to and from all major and minor cities near Gwalior, including Bhopal, Agra, Delhi, Jabalpur, Jhansi, Bhind, Morena, Dholpur, Etawah, Datia, Jaipur, and Indore. Gwalior is a major railway junction in the Northern central region. 

Location