Bhojpur, Madhya Pradesh

Bhojpur
town
Bhojeshwar Temple
Bhojpur Bhojpur Location in Madhya Pradesh, India
Coordinates: 23°6′54″N 77°35′43″E / 23.11500°N 77.59528°ECoordinates: 23°6′54″N 77°35′43″E / 23.11500°N 77.59528°E
Country	India
State	Madhya Pradesh
Languages
• Official	Hindi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
ISO 3166 code	IN-MP
Vehicle registration	MP

Bhojpur is a town of historical and religious importance in Raisen District of Madhya Pradesh, India.

Geography and hydrology

Site plan of Bhojpur 23° 6'1.69"N 77°34'47.70"E, showing the location of the temple, palace and dams

River Betwā at Bhojpur, showing remains of the southern dam

Bhojpur is situated on the Betwā River, 28 km from Bhopal, the state capital of Madhya Pradesh. The site is located on sandstone ridges typical of central India, next to a deep gorge through which the Betwā River flows. Two large dams, constructed of massive hammer-dressed stones, were built in the eleventh century to divert and block the Betwā, so creating a large lake. The approximate size of the lake is shown in the site plan given here.

Detail of the masonry of the northern dam at Bhojpur

History

Bhojpur takes its name from king Bhoja (reg. c. 1000–1055 CE), the most celebrated ruler of the Paramāra dynasty.^[1] There is no archaeological evidence from Bhojpur before the eleventh century, a fact confirmed by local legends which recount how Bhoja made a vow to build a series of dams “to arrest the streams of nine rivers and ninety-nine rivulets”. A location was found in the kingdom that allowed the king to fulfil this vow and the dams were duly built at Bhojpur.^[2]

Although the dams were constructed of cyclopean masonry, one of them was opened on the orders of Hoshang Shah of Malwa in the fifteenth century. According to Persian chronicles, he ordered the dam to be broken at the request of local merchants in Bhopal and Vidisha whose caravans were being raided by bandits taking refuge at an inaccessible spot protected by the lake.^[3]

Places of historical, archaeological and religious interest

Jain temples

Idols at the unfinished Jain Temple, Bhojpur

Bhojpur also has an unfinished Jain temple containing a 6-meter-tall statue of Bhagwan Shantinath and two statues of Bhagwan Parshvanath (left) and Bhagwan Suparshvanatha (right). On the base of one of the images is an inscription mentioning king Bhoja, the only epigraphic evidence connecting Bhoja to the site.^[4] The same temple complex hosts shrine for Ācārya Manatunga who wrote Bhaktamara Stotra.

Main Temple & Idol

This huge temple was established in year 1100 AD. The miraculous idol of principal deity Bhagwan Shantinath in standing posture (22½ feet in height) is installed in the huge sanctum of this temple. On the both sides of this idol, 2 standing beautiful idols of Bhagwan Parshvanath & Suparshvanath (7th Teerthankar) 8 feet in height each are installed. Near the feet of Bhagwan Shantinath, artistic whisk bearers are carved on both sides.

Bhojeśvar temple

The liṅga at the Bhojasvāmin temple, Bhojpur

Bhojpur is famous for the incomplete Bhojeśvar temple dedicated to Shiva. The temple houses one of the largest liṅga-s in India, 5.5 m (18 ft) tall and 2.3 m (7.5 ft) in circumference. It is crafted out a single rock.^[5] The building is under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India.

The attribution of the temple to Bhoja is based on the testimony of Merutuṅga, who reports in the Prabandhacintāmaṇi that Bhoja bestowed on the poet Māgha “all the merit of the new Bhojasvāmin temple that he was about to build himself”, and then “set out for the country of Mālava”.^[6] The style of the sculpture on the building confirms an early to mid-eleventh-century date for the structure.

The building as it stands consists of the inner cella or garbhagṛha, supported by massive pillars, surmounted with an elegant corbelled dome. The outer walls and superstructure of the temple were never built.

Quarries and rock drawings

Architectural fragments in one of the quarries at Bhojpur

The temple at Bhojpur is unique in being left unfinished, with a series of large architectural parts still located in the quarries where the stones were cut and fashioned. In addition, there are a significant number of architectural drawings engraved on the flat surfaces of the quarry showing mouldings, pillars, and temple plans.^[7] Also of note is the large earthen ramp behind the temple which shows how medieval craftsmen raised the large blocks of stone into position.

Cave of Pārvatī

Immediately opposite the temple, on the west side of the gorge facing the Betwā, is a rock-shelter or cave, now occupied by religious mendicants. Popularly known as Pārvatī's Cave, the cave contains a number of sculptures and architectural fragments dating to the eleventh century.

Remains of Bhoja's Royal Palace

One of the avenues in the ruins of the royal palace at Bhojpur

On the low plateau above the Cave of Pārvatī and opposite the Bhojpur temple are the remains of Bhoja's palace. Only the foundations survive. The complex is laid out as a grid in a square, with a courtyard in the centre (see site plan above). It is oriented on an exact north-south axis as prescribed in the Samarāṅganasūtradhāra, an architectural treatise ascribed to Bhoja.^[8] Among the many features of interest are unfinished carved blocks and graffiti engraved on the rock floor. The latter includes diagrams for games and a series of names dating to the eleventh century and later. The palace is a unique survival, being the only medieval building of its kind in northern India. Its association with Bhoja and its close conformity to a text ascribed to the king mark it out as a site of national and international cultural importance. The site of the palace, like the neighbouring dams, is unprotected. The remains of the palace are being slowly destroyed as local people collect stones for modern building purposes.

Cultural activities and festivals

Every year, on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri, a big mela is organized at Bhojpur.^[9]

Gallery

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  History of Shiva Temple

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  Shiva Temple

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  Front view

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  Manatunga Acharya Shrine

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  River Betwa close to the Bhojeshwar temple at Bhojpur

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  Graffiti near the palace remains at Bhojpur

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  Ruins of the walls of Bhoja's palace at Bhojpur

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  Rock shelter at Bhojpur popularly known as Pārvatī's Cave

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  Interior of the temple dome at Bhojpur, before conservation

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  Earthen ramp behind the temple at Bhojpur

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  Satī pillar beside the Bhojpur temple, probably 18th century.

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  Stone mining activity at the palace site in 2012

References

1. Arvind K. Singh, "Interpreting the History of the Paramāras," Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 3, 22, 1 (2012), pp. 13–28. Online version: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=JRA
2. John Malcolm, Report on the Province of Malwa, and adjoining Districts (Calcutta, 1822), p. 19.
3. U. P. Day, Medieval Malwa: a Political and Cultural History, 1401–1562. (Delhi, 1965): appendix.
4. D. C. Sircar, “Three Paramara Inscriptions”, Epigraphica Indica 35 (1963–64), p. 186; H. V. Trivedi, Inscriptions of the Paramāras, 2, pp. 60–61.
5. Bhojpur name="unfinished_dream">Unfinished dream Archived February 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
6. Cited in M. Willis, "Dhār, Bhoja and Sarasvatī: from Indology to Political Mythology and Back," Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 22, 1 (2012), p. 130. Online version: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?decade=2010&jid=JRA&seriesId=3&volumeId=22&issueId=01&iid=8509262.
7. K. K. Chakravarty, Bhojpur Temple, a vision of harmony (Bhopal, 1991)
8. Mattia Salvini, "The Samarāṅganasūtradhāra: Themes and Context for the Science of Vāstu," Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 22, 1 (2012), pp. 35–55. Online version: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=JRA.
9. Place of Interest: Bhojpur

• Law, Bimala Churn (1926). "5. The Bhojas". Ancient Indian Tribes. Motilal Banarsidas.