The Ghateshwar Temple - also known as Ghateshwara Mahadeva temple - in Badoli (or Baroli) is one of the nine temples near the river Chambal in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

, India. The Ghateshwar temple is dedicated to the god

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

and is constructed in the Pratihara style of ''circa.'' It is located in

Rawatbhata Rawatbhata is a city, Tehsil and Nagar Palika in Chittorgarh District, Rajasthan, India. It is 131 km from Chittorgarh city, 50 km from the nearest city, Kota. The city has eight nuclear power stations, an under-construction nuclear fuel ...

, which is around 50 km from Kota. The Ghateshwar temple is governed by the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexand ...

Architecture

Believed to have been built in the tenth century, the massive structure consists of a ''

pancharatha A Hindu temple is a ''pancharatha'' when there are five '' ratha'' (on plan) or ''paga'' (on elevation) on the tower of the temple (generally a ''shikhara''). The rathas are vertical offset projection or facets. The name comes from the sanskri ...

'' sanctum, ''

antarala Antarala (Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the ...

'' and ''mukha mandapa'', which rest on six pillars. The entrance is through a ''

makara ''Makara'' ( sa, मकर, translit=Makara) is a legendary sea-creature in Hindu mythology. In Hindu astrology, Makara is equivalent to the Zodiac sign Capricorn. Makara appears as the vahana (vehicle) of the river goddess Ganga, Narmada, a ...

torana ''Torana'' ( sa, तोरण; '' awr-uh-nuh') is a free-standing ornamental or arched gateway for ceremonial purposes in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain architecture of the Indian subcontinent. Toranas can also be widely seen in Southeast Asia and ...

''. There are ''

surasundari In Indian art, a surasundari (literally "celestial beauty") is a young maiden characterizing feminine beauty and graceful sensuality. Buddhist and Jain shrines have featured sensual figures in form of yakshis and other spirits since 2nd century ...

s'' which are carved on the front pillars of ''mukha mandapa'' in dance postures.

References

Hindu temples in Rajasthan Buildings and structures in Chittorgarh district {{India-hindu-temple-stub

Architecture

See also

References