The Kalayat Ancient Brick Temple Complex is a ruined brick temple complex north of Delhi, is located in Kalayat town in Kaithal district of the state of Haryana, India. It comprises the several Hindu temples, 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 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 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 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 sage Chyavana who regained health and youth by consuming Chyawanprash (made by Raj Vaidhya 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 devi who was the daughter of Sanskrit grammarian, mathematician and Vedic Sage Kātyāyana. There is also a Hanuman temple and Akhara.

Access

Kalayat, where the temple complex is located, is connected by road. Rail and air links are available in the nearby major cities such as Chandigarh and Delhi. Its distance from other major cities is as follows: kaithal 30 km, Jind 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 133 km, Chandigarh 150 km, Ludhiana 159 km, Delhi 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 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 368 km, Agra 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