Jignasa Journal Of History Of Ideas And Culture Part 02

Author(s): Vibha Upadhyaya and Others
Publisher: University of Rajasthan

Page 26

242 / Jimasa
32. Sāradā Temple at MAIHAR: An Epigraphical Account
J.N. Pandey
Maihar (24°16' N and 80°46' E) is a tahsil headquarters of Satna District, Madhya Pradesh, and a railway station on the Allahabad-Jabalpur branch of Central Railway. Man inhabited the area in and around Maihar since prehistoric times!. Maibar is famous for its Sāradā temple which stands on the summit of a hill Present temple is not very old. It is a neat stone temple of modern construction. According to folklore Alhā, the famous hero of the court of Chandela king Parmardi (1163-1202 C.E) used to worship the goddess at this place. This area was a buffer zone between the Chandelas of lejāk abhukti and Kalachuris of Tripuri and it might have exchanged hands.
During our explorations between 1975 and 1988, we discovered ruins of a large number of ancient temples on the bank of Lilji river. Golāmatha a Shaivite temple is comparatively in good condition. It comprises a pancharatho sanctum, roofed by a small sikhara of elegant proportion, and a small porch. There is no inscription on this temple. The outer wall of the sanctum has two rows of sculptures adorning all the projections and the recesses, while the lower row shows cult images and the regents in the prominent offsets, and Apsarases and Vyālas in remaining offsets and recesses. The Upper row has smaller figures and invariably displays couples like other famous Chandela monuments. The construction of Golāmatha is attributed to Viśvakarmā, the divine architect. In the light of its architectural features, the temple may be ascribed to the times of the Chandelas.
The first authentic account of Śäradā temple is available from two inscriptions at Maihar. These records have been marked as A and B for the sake of convenience. Inscription No. В was noticed by J.D. Beglar (an assistant of Alexander Cunningham, the first Director General of Archaeological Survey of India) who in 1871-72 visited Maihar (Spelt by him as Mahiyar) in the following words "... to the right of the steps leading up to the chief statue (in the shrine of Devi Sāradā) is a large slab, nov. cracked, which contains an inscription perfectly illegible from the effect of weather..."
This description of the record in question with reference to the state of its preservation is not quite correct. It is true that some parts of the inscription (B) here and there are rubbed off, but the number of passages, in which the letters are completely lost, are not too many.
As a matter of fact, the image of the goddess Sāradā is under worship and the priests allowed Dr. B.Ch. Chhabra to copy the epigraph on the front side of the pedestal of her image after considerable persuasion in 1940 and Dr. Chhabra prepared their transcripts. Sircar and Subrahmanyam have expressed their indebtedness to him for preparing transcripts and the reading of some words. The texts