The Kalayat Ancient Brick Temple Complex is a ruined brick temple complex north of Delhi, is located in

Kalayat Kalayat is a city and a municipal committee in Kaithal district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is historical town known as Kapilayat and Kapilayatana in past, named after the Vedic sage Kapil Muni, is home of the 8th century Kalayat Ancient B ...

town in

Kaithal district Kaithal district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana, state in northern India. Kaithal town is the district headquarters. The district occupies an area of 2317 km2. It has a population of 1,074,304 (2011 census). It is part of Karnal divi ...

of the state of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

, India. It comprises the several

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hind ...

s, including two ancient temples dating from the 8th century. This temple constitutes an important point in the series of

48 kos parikrama of Kurukshetra The 48 kos parikrama is a parikrama (a circumbabulatory pilgrimage) of various ''Mahabharata''-related and other Vedic-era tirthas (Hindu sacred sites) around the holy city of Kurukshetra in the state of Haryana, India. Associated with Kri ...

History

The name Kalayat appears to be derived from "Kapilayatana", which translates to the "home of sage Kapila". According to local legends, in ancient times, five brick temples were located beside the holy tank. However, only two temples now survive. These temples are built in the

Gurjara-Pratihara The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Hindustan, Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. They ruled first at Ujjain and later at Kannauj. The Gurjara-Pratiharas were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving ...

style, and can be dated to 8th century CE. One of the two surviving temples has undergone heavy modifications.

Temple complex

The temples were built in Nagara style of Gurjara-Pratihara School. The layout of the temples indicates there were originally five temples in the Panchayatan group on the banks of holy ''Kapilayatna'' Tirtha (water tank). In the Panchayatan the main shrine was surrounded by four subsidiary shrines, which is contemporaneous to the temples of

Khajuraho Khajuraho () is a city, near Chhatarpur in Chhatarpur district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. One of the most popular tourist destinations in India, Khajuraho has the country's largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples, famous f ...

and

Bhubaneshwar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango tr ...

. Locally made red bricks were the main source of material for the buildings and sculptures. They were built without using any plaster or mortar. Only two temples survive. One temple is a

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 ...

temple in the

Pancha Rathas Pancha Rathas (also known as Five Rathas or Pandava Rathas or Ainthinai kovil) is a monument complex at Mahabalipuram, on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, in the Kancheepuram district of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Pancha Ra ...

style with a

Linga A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional im ...

statue and snake statue. There are stairs at the back leading to the

Kapil Muni Kapila ( sa, कपिल), also referred to as Cakradhanus, is a sage in Hindu tradition. According to Bhagavata Purana, he is the son of the sage Kardama and Devahuti, the daughter of the Svayambhuva Manu. Kardama had nine daughters, who wer ...

Tirtha, where pilgrims take a bath before worship.Kalayat in Haryana
/ref> The temple complex includes a large

Tirath. The Tirtha pond is named Chyavan Giri Kund after another

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

sage

Chyavana Chyavana () was a sage (rishi) in Hinduism. He was a son of Bhrigu, also known as Bhrigu Varuni in the Upanishads, and is known for his rejuvenation through a special herbal paste or tonic known as '' chyavanaprasham'', which was prepared by t ...

who regained health and youth by consuming

Chyawanprash Chyavanprash (), originally Chayavanaprasham, is a cooked mixture of sugar, honey, ghee, Indian gooseberry ( amla) jam, sesame oil, berries and various herbs and spices. It is prepared as per the instructions suggested in Ayurvedic texts. Chyavanp ...

(made by Raj

Vaidhya Vaidya (Sanskrit: ), or vaid is a Sanskrit word meaning "traditional practitioner of Ayurveda", an indigenous Indian system of alternative medicine. Senior practitioners or teachers were called ''Vaidyarāja'' ("physician-king") as a mark of respe ...

twin Ashwini Kumar brothers) at his

Ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or a ...

Dhosi Hill Dhosi Hill is an important Vedic period site, an extinct volcano, standing alone at the north-west end of the Aravalli mountain range. Its height varies from about 345 to 470 meters from the surrounding lands and 740 meters from the sea level. ...

near Nuh in

Mewat district Nuh district (formerly known as Mewat district) is one of the 22 districts in the Indian state of Haryana. There are four sub-divisions in this district: Nuh, Ferozepur Jhirka, Punahana, and Taoru. It has an area of and had a population of 1 ...

. There is also a temple of

Katyayini ''Katyayani'' (कात्यायनी) is an aspect of Mahadevi and the slayer of the tyrannical demon Mahishasura. She is the sixth among the Navadurgas, the nine forms of Hindu goddess Durga who are worshipped during the festival of Navar ...

devi who was the daughter of

Sanskrit grammarian Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

Sage

Kātyāyana Kātyāyana (कात्यायन) also spelled as Katyayana (est. c. 6th to 3rd century BCE) was a Sanskrit grammarian, mathematician and Vedic priest who lived in ancient India. पतञ्जलीमहर्षिः Patanjali Mahars ...

. There is also a

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

temple and

Akhara Akhara or Akhada (Sanskrit and Hindi: अखाड़ा, shortened to ''khara'' Hindi: खाड़ा) is an Indian word for a place of practice with facilities for boarding, lodging and training, both in the context of Indian martial artists o ...

Access

, where the temple complex is located, is connected by road. Rail and air links are available in the nearby major cities such as

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. Its distance from other major cities is as follows:

kaithal Kaithal () is a city and municipal council in the Kaithal district of the Indian state of Haryana. Kaithal was previously a part of Karnal district and later, Kurukshetra district until 1 November 1989, when it became the headquarters of the K ...

30 km,

Jind Jind is one of the largest and oldest city in Jind district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is administrative headquarter of Jind district. Rani Talab is the main destination for tourists while Pandu-Pindara and Ramrai are the main religiou ...

52 km,

Kurukshetra Kurukshetra (, ) is a city and administrative headquarter of Kurukshetra district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is also known as Dharmakshetra ("Realm of duty ") and as the "Land of the Bhagavad Gita". Legends According to the Pura ...

77 km, Hisar 90 km, Fatehabad 90 km,

Panipat Panipat () is a historic city in Haryana, India. It is 95 km north of Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on List of National Highways in India, NH-1. The three major battles fought in First Battle of Panipat, 1526, Second Battle of ...

95 km,

Sirsa Sirsa is a city and a municipal council in Sirsa district in the westernmost region of the Indian state of Haryana, bordering Punjab and Rajasthan. It is located in Thar desert. It is located 250 kilometres north-west of New Delhi and 260 kilome ...

133 km,

150 km,

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 Indian census, 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the ...

159 km,

193 km,

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

222 km,

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the States and union territories of India, northern Indian state of Himachal Prade ...

250 km,

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

287 km,

Dharamshala Dharamshala (; also spelled Dharamsala) is the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh, India. It serves as administrative headquarters of the Kangra district after being relocated from Kangra, a city located away from Dharamshala, in 1855. The ...

368 km,

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

393 km and

820 km.

References

External links

Flicker Pictures Of Kalayat temples

Kalayat temple images from ASI website
{{Haryana Gardens in India Hindu temples in Haryana Shiva temples in Haryana 8th-century Hindu temples Kaithal district