Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh

The temple site is in Deogarh, also spelled Devgarh (Sanskrit: "fort of gods"), in the Betwa River valley at the border of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. It is an ancient Hindu temple below the Deogarh hill, towards the river, about from a group of three dozen Jain temples with dharmashala built a few centuries later, and the Deogarh Karnali fort built in early 13th-century. The Dashavatara temple is about from Lalitpur town in Uttar Pradesh, west of Khajuraho, south of Gwalior, northeast of Bhopal, and about southwest of Kanpur. The nearest railway station is located in Lalitpur, while the closest major airport with daily services is Khajuraho (IATA: HJR) and Bhopal (IATA: DBH). The site is on the western edge of the Lalitpur range, with rocky Betwa river rapids about away, amidst a forest. The British India era archaeologist Alexander Cunningham visited this site in 1875 and called the general location as "singularly picturesque". The fort has several Jain temples, and the Dashavatara temple is solitary Hindu monument midway between the fort and the Deogarh village. == History ==

Deogarh is an ancient site. Numerous inscriptions in different languages and scripts have been found here, as have a series of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist monuments. These suggest that it was once a significant human settlement, likely a location on an imperial trade route that brought people from different linguistic backgrounds to it. According to Madho Vats, Deogarh nestled within picturesque hills in north, west and south along with its abundant waters was conveniently located between the major ancient economic centers such as Pataliputra (Patna), Kashi (Varanasi), Sanchi, Udayagiri, Ujjain, Bhilsa and Bagh. According to Bruhn, the Deogarh Naharghati inscriptions, cave and sculptures are all Hindu monuments and one of richest archaeological findings in Deogarh area, and they include Gupta era art, several early and late Nagari script inscriptions, an early Mahishasura-mardini Durga relief, Shiva lingas and various Hindu statues. It was subsequently renamed by Cunningham as Dashavatara Mandir or Dashavatara Temple (because the temple depicts ten incarnations of Vishnu), and also as Sagar Marh (meaning: the temple by the well). Date The Dashavatara temple is generally dated between late 5th-century and early 6th-century, or about 500 CE. Benjamín Preciado-Solís, a professor of Indian History specializing in Hindu and Buddhist iconography, dates it to the 5th century. According to George Michell, an art historian and a professor specializing in Hindu Architecture, it is unclear when exactly the Dashavatara temple was built but its style suggests the sixth century. ==Description==

The Dashavatara temple has a high plinth (jagati) and is set with a basement porch. The temple provides steps in the center of all sides of the platform to let the pilgrim enter the temple from all four directions.The temple is a masterpiece of Indian architecture. The temple faces west, with slight deviation to the south that enables the setting sun's rays to fall on the main idol in the temple. The plinth is square with a side, about above the bottom step (called the moon stone) of the shrine. Some of these friezes are now in museums such as the National Museum in Delhi. These show, for example, the narratives from the Krishna legend. The sanctum is a square with side. Its doorway is intricately carved with reliefs. The images on the top of the lintel of the sanctum and walls show Vishnu and Lakshmi, flanked by Shiva, Parvati, Indra, Kartikeya, Ganesha, Brahma and others. The outer wall of the sanctum on three sides have niches with sculptures of Vishnu legends: Gajendra-moksha flying in with Garuda, Nara-Narayana seated in lalitasana position, and Anantasayi Vishnu in reclining position. The Deogarh temple sikhara was pyramidal of receding tiers (tala), with a straight edge. The Dashavatara Temple is closely related to the iconic architectural temple structure described in the Vishnudharmottara Purana, and can be interpreted as an architectural representation of the Chaturvyuha concept and the Pancaratra doctrine, centering on the depictions of the four main emanations of Vishnu: Vāsudeva, Samkarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. Sculptures Sculpted panels are seen on the terraced basement, with carved figurines of river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna flanking the doorway to the sanctum sanctorum, standing respectively on their vahanas: crocodile and tortoise. or more often Gana as he lacks the iconic details of Vamana. On the outer walls of each side of the sanctum are niches. Each niche has an alto-relievo of Vaishnava mythology: • On the north side is the Gajendra Moksha in a niche that is 3.25 feet by 5 feet (0.65:1 ratio). A symbolic elephant is praying for help with his leg inside a pond and lotus flower in his trunk, where he is being strangled. Vishnu is shown flying in on Garuda to liberate the elephant from evil strangulation. • On the east side is the Nara Narayana alto-relievo. Nara and Narayana are seated in meditation in lalitasana. Both of them hold a rosary in hand, are shown to be with closed eyes and calm, as if lost in their meditation. Apsaras are shown flying above with cusped hands as if showering flowers. Below Nara and Narayana sit lion and deer in peace and without anxiety. The panel also has four headed Brahma seated on lotus and in lotus asana. • In the south side niche is the Anantasayi Vishnu legend as he rests after creating a new cosmic cycle. He sleeps on Sesha whose 7-headed hood shades him. Lakshmi is sitting near Vishnu's feet and shown caressing his right leg. Vishnu is wearing an elaborate crown (kiritamukuta) and neck, ear, arm and body jewelry. A miniature four headed Brahma is above in center, but he does not emerge from Vishnu navel (a version found in later-dated Puranas). Brahma also has only two hands, with one holding his iconic kamandalu (water pot). Others flanking Brahma are Indra and Kartikeya (Skanda) on one side, Siva and Parvati on Nandi, and a person with a garland. Below the reclining Vishnu is a panel depicting the five males (Pandavas) and one female (Draupadi) of the Mahabharata legend. • Mahabharata and Vishnu Purana scenes: a panel narrates the Krishna's birth in a prison legend; Yashoda and Nanda playing with Baladeva and Krishna; Krishna battling Kamsa legend; Krishna stealing bathing gopi clothes and two nude women concealing their breasts; the Sudama legend and a few others. One of the panels shows the Vamana, Bali and Trivikrama legend; another the Narasimha saving Prahlada legend. • Secular life scenes: A number of panels show solitary women with various expressions; small boys playing; girls picking flowers in a field; six girls together of which five are watching and one is dancing; five girls of which one in center is dancing and the other four are playing musical instruments; a woman giving a baby to a man so that he can hold the baby but the man stands indifferent; and others. Another sculpture found in the Vishnu temple depicts the Krishna legend in which Devaki hands over her new born son Krishna to her husband Vasudeva. This sculpture is said to be one of the best depictions of Gupta period art, based on the sensuous and graceful modelling of the figurines, but different in that its clothes are shown draped in an exclusive fashion. It is now housed at the National Museum in New Delhi. The panels show the culture and dress of ancient India. The jewelry and clothing including dhoti, sari, kurta, lahanga, blouse, pleated skirt, dopatta (uttariya), langoti, neck wear and others. Textual roots The Hindu treatise Vishnudharmottara Purana describes several temples including a "Sarvatobhadra temple", which has been compared by archaeologists and Indologists with the Dashavatara Temple (Vishnu temple) or the Gupta Mandir of Deogarh. According to Lubotsky, a comparative study suggests that the ideal temple design and iconography described in the treatise as "Sarvatobhadra temple" was the same as the Vishnu temple of Deogarh. This conclusion was based on plan, size, iconography and several other norms described for building the Sarvatobhadra style Hindu temples. Based on this comparison, the structural details of the Deogarh temple have been inferred. Maps have also been drawn of the temple structure. The probable date of the temple's construction has been estimated to be between 425 and 525. The Sarvatobhadra design requires a superstructure with nine sikharas. The Dasavatara temple at Deogarh shows only one "shikara", and right squares with no remnant structure. Lubotsky acknowledges that this aspect of the Sarvatobhadra design cannot be fully established by existing evidence. However, the supporting features of copings and amalakas (a bulbous stone finial) have been found in the ruins, which supports the theory that more shikaras existed on eight mandapas, as part of the temple. Four stairways outside the platform provide access to the temple. However, as per excavation details, combined with the two small shrines with the central shrine seen now, the layout of the temple has been interpreted to represent a typical Panchayatana style of the temples of North India. Provision of porches has not been corroborated but some analogous comparison with the Varaha temple (boar incarnation of Vishnu) in the fort precincts, which belonged to the same period, suggests the existence of porticoes even in the Vishnu temple. Further, a later date Kuriya Bira temple about to the south of the Vishnu temple, has been cited to substantiate that this temple had a mandapa around a small shikara shrine, as required in the Sarvatobhadra design. According to Lubotsky, the Deogarh temple tallied with the description provided for the Sarvatobhadra temple in the ancient treatise of Vishnudharmottara Purana. ==Reception==

The Vishnu temple's uniqueness has been expressed succinctly by archaeologist Percy Brown, in these words: When complete, this building was unquestionably one of rare merit in the correct ordering of its parts, all alike serving the purpose of practical utility, yet imbued with supreme artistic feeling. Few monuments can show such a high level of workmanship, combined with a ripeness and rich refinement in its sculptural effect as the Gupta temple at Deogarh. Reconstructions Proposed Cunningham had originally proposed a reconstruction of the temple with four columns on each side supporting a portico and a shikhara topped by an amalaka. However Vats and Imig have proposed that it was a panchayatana temple. Imig compared a number of temples from the region and from other regions from similar period, and concluded that the garbhagriha (sanctum) cell was surrounded by a wall forming an ambulatory. ==See also==