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APPENDIX III
475
A typically Saiva sculpture representing Siva and the Seven Mothers is found engraved on doors and fintels in some of the temples including the Chaubara Dera. An inscription in the latter temple mentions Udayaditya of Malava who is known to have reigned in the latter part of the eleventh century. This is no doubt an important clue to the age of the temples at Un. Another inscription in the Chaubara Dera temple engraved on the figure of a serpent exhibits the Sanskrit alphabet and some of the conjugational terminations; and this had apparently an educational purpose. Two similar inscriptions, on a larger scale, are engraved on two pillars in the Bhojasala or School of King Bhoja, now the Masjid of Kamal Maula, at Dhar.'
The island of Mändhätä in the Narmada, in the Nimar District of Central Provinces, south-east of Indore, was a seat of Saiva worship at an early age, probably long before the tenth century. To judge from
1 Ibid. p. 46. Remains of old Siva temples are fairly numerous in Indore State, many of which have been rebuilt in later times. Two or three of these temples may be mentioned. The village of Modi, seven miles to the west of Bhanpura in the north of Indore State, contains the ruins of a number of temples, one of which is still in position. The temple was dedicated to Siva, but only the garbhagṛha is intact. The lintel of the door leading to the interior of the sanctum bears the figure of Siva as Lakulisa, and some of the large stones of the basement bear inscriptions in characters of the 12th century A. D.' The village of Kukdesvar, ten miles to the west of Rampura in the north of Indore State, contains the temple of Sahasra-mukheśvara. The old temple having collapsed, the present structure was built in its place. But the linga in the sanctum is very old and a real sahasralinga. It consists of a huge linga about three feet in height and twelve to sixteen inches in diameter. The body of the linga is covered with rows of miniature lingas of uniform shape and size measuring about an inch and a half in height.'
The tableland or plateau at the foot of which Bhanpura lies is thickly studded with ancient remains, and shows ample signs of having been at one time a thickly populated locality of ancient Mälava.' The remains on this plateau include those of two old temples at Navali or Naoli. One of these is the temple of Nandikesvara which stands at the southern end of the village. The temple was partly rebuilt at a later date with the old materials. The mandapa has disappeared, but the sanctum still stands. The linga of Nandikesvara is octagonal at the bottom and round at the top.
Old Vaisnava temples are found here and there in Indore State. The old village of Kohala, for instance, in the Garoth District in northern Indore, six miles from Bhanpura, contains three temples dedicated to Vispu. The largest is the temple of Varaha which contains one of the finest images of the Boar Incarnation. Of the other two temples that of Laksmi-Narayapa is one of the best preserved monuments in Malava. The sikhara is tall and slender, and resembles that of the temple of Mahakaleśvara at Un.' The temple of Caturbhuja is exactly similar in plan, but the sikhara is far inferior to that of Lakṣmi-Narayana. The temple of Seṣasayin exists at the village of Kethuli which lies at the foot of the plateau on which Navali (see above) is situated. An old temple of Visou, partly rebuilt, exists at Kukdesvar. With the exception of the roof, the porch in front and the Mandapa are of the same date as the old garbhagṛha on the west, i. e. 12th or 13th century A. D. The existing Vaisnava temples in Malava are of uncertain date; and there is apparently no Vaispava temple which can compare in grandeur and magnitude with any of the outstanding major temples dedicated to Siva. See Progress Report of the Archaeological Survey of India, Western Circle, for 1920.
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