The Trivikrama Temple, also named Ter Temple, is a temple of Vamana (an incarnation of Vishnu) in

Ter, Maharashtra Ter is a village in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra state, India. It is from the district headquarters, Osmanabad, from Latur. History The ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' mentions a trading centre called Tagara, which has been ide ...

. Henry Cousens, followed by most later writers, believed that it was originally a Buddhist temple, however in 1957 M. S. Mate disputed this view. The temple is original in that it was initially based on a free-standing

apsidal In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

structure, now located at the back of the building, which is characteristic of early Buddhist apsidal '' caityagriha'' designs. The apsidal structure seems to be contemporary to the great apsidal temple found in

Sirkap Sirkap (Urdu and pnb, ) is the name of an archaeological site on the bank opposite to the city of Taxila, Punjab, Pakistan. The city of Sirkap was built by the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius after he invaded modern-day Pakistan around 180 BC. ...

Taxila Taxila or Takshashila (; sa, तक्षशिला; pi, ; , ; , ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and ...

, which is dated to 30 BCE-50 CE. It would have been built under the

Satavahanas The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan region. Mos ...

, in the 2nd or 3rd century CE. The external flat-roofed

mandapa A mandapa or mantapa () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture. Mandapas are described as "open" or "closed" depending on whether they have walls. In temples, ...

structure is probably only an addition from the 6th century CE, when the temple was converted into a Hindu temple. A stone image of

Trivikrama Vamana (), also known as Trivikrama (), Urukrama (), Upendra (), Dadhivamana (), and Balibandhana () is an avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. He is the fifth avatar of Vishnu, and the first Dashavatara in the Treta Yuga, after Narasimha. ...

probably dates to the early

Chalukyas The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...

. The front of the apsidal temple is decorated with a

chaitya A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:''Caitya''; Pāli: ''Cetiya'') refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded ...

-arch, similar to those found in Buddhist rock-cut architecture. Another known Hindu temple constructed in a Chaitya-style, is the Pallava period Kapoteswara temple at Chezarla in

Guntur district Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the largest city of the district in terms of area and with a po ...

. The legend behind the deity Kapoteswara is the story of Sibi in

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

which also occurs in

Sibi Jataka Shibi Jataka is one of the Jataka tales detailing episodes of the various incarnations of Buddha. Each Jataka tale illustrates the Buddhist ideals of ''Dhamma'' and sacrifice in various forms. Tradition states that these tales were narrated by Buddh ...

The Trivikrama Temple is considered as the oldest standing structure in Maharashtra. File:Trivikram_Temple_Ter_2.jpg, Side view File:Trivikram_Temple_Ter_3.jpg, View of the upper part of the temple Trivikrama Temple plan.jpg, Plan and elevation of the Trivikrama Temple. Temple of Trivikrama at Ter.jpg, Reconstitution of the original Buddhist apsidal temple. File:Ter ancient Buddhist Chaitya House.jpg, The ancient Buddhist chaitya house at Ter.

References

{{Hindu temples in Maharashtra Hindu temples in Maharashtra mr:त्रिविक्रम मंदिर, तेर

See also

References