Lakheshwara Temple, Kera, Gujarat

Lakheshwara Temple, Kera, Gujarat

Lakheshwara Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in Kera Village in Bhuj Taluk in Kutch District, in the Indian state of Gujarat. The Temple is one of the protected monuments in Gujarat declared by Archaeological Survey of India.

History

The Temple was built in the later part of the 10th Century by the Chaulukya dynasty (Solankis). The temple suffered severe damage during the Rann of Kutch earthquake of 1819. The temple was substantially damaged, leaving only the main spire and inner sanctum in a good condition. It was again damaged to some extent during the Bhuj earthquake of 2001.

The Temple

The Temple is facing towards east and built over a raised platform. The temple consists of a mandapa and sanctum enclosed by an ambulatory with transepts on the sides and on the rear. This is a sandhara temple, having common ambulatory passage around its sanctum. The three transepts of the outer wall has windows on each side.

These windows had perforated stone screens. The sanctum is square in plan. The sanctum enshrines the presiding deity, Lakheshwara, in the form of Shiva Linga. The mandapa was collapsed and only the northern wall has survived. There are a few well carved sculptures of surasundaris can be seen on the wall.

The shikara of the temple is well executed with ornamentation of eight triangle shaped sculptures in the form of chaitya windows on each face of the shikara. The windows has miniature sculptures of human figures. This style is repeated one above the other in gradually reducing size, as the height of the shikara increases.

There are miniature shikaras at the corners of the sanctum and the same type are built above them in an interior set-in feature which lies at the main large central shikara. The external faces of the shikara are well-ornamented with elegantly carved sculptures. The shikara is in ruined state in the front side. There are several stone sculptures of Yakshas can be seen around the temple premises.

Connectivity

The Temple is located at about 21 Kms from Bhuj, 21 Kms from Bhuj Bus Stand, 26 Kms from Bhuj Railway Station, 26 Kms from Bhuj Airport, 33 Kms from Mundra, 251 Kms from Rajkot and 255 Kms from Rajkot Airport. The temple is situated on Bhuj to Mundra route.

Location