Udaipur is a town in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

near

Ganj Basoda Ganj Basoda, called Basoda, city and municipality in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Ganj Basoda is one of the eleven tehsils of Vidisha district and is 39 kms from Vidisha. History Earlier there was an oil and flour mill named "Standard ...

. It is the site of a well-preserved Śiva temple, a monument of national importance protected 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 Alexande ...

History

Udaipur's history reaches back to at least the ninth century, but it became famous and appears to have assumed its present name under the Paramāra king Udayāditya (c. 1060-87). It continued to be important in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, and was an important town on the north-south trade route.

Geography

Udaipur is located at 23°54'2"N 78°3'29"E.

Transport

Udaipur is connected by bus service from Ganj Basoda railway station 93 km from Bhopal Junction towards Jhansi (203 km) and 604 km from New Delhi Jn.

Monuments

The monuments of Udaipur were first studied by M. B. Garde and published in the reports of the archaeological department of Gwalior state. The data in these reports was compiled into a list prepared in 1952.

Śiva temple

The most important temple at Udaipur is that dedicated to Śiva and known today as the Nīlakaṇṭheśvara. It was built in the second half of the eleventh century and is the only surviving royal temple of the

Paramara The Paramara dynasty (IAST: Paramāra) was an Indian dynasty that ruled Malwa and surrounding areas in west-central India between 9th and 14th centuries. They belonged to the Parmara clan of the Rajputs. The dynasty was established in either th ...

kings. An inscription in the eastern porch records the building of the temple in Vikrama Saṃvat 1137 or 1080-81 CE. Architecturally, the temple spire belongs to a class known as ''bhūmija'', or 'earth born,' a mode of temple building that originated in the Mālwa region. The complex Śaiva iconography of the temple has been studied by Doria Tichit. In the entrance porch of the temple are series of more than sixty votive records. Not yet studied in a systematic fashion, these form a continuous sequence from the time of the Paramāras – Devapāla (1218–39) is mentioned – through the period of the Tughluqs and beyond. For example, one inscription mentions a festival (''yātrā'') of the god Udaleśvara in 1338, the same year as the Tughluq inscription recording the construction of the mosque in the temple precinct.

Tughluq Shahi mosque

Directly next to the temple is a small mosque constructed during the reign of

Muhammad ibn Tughluq Muhammad bin Tughluq (1290 – 20 March 1351) was the eighteenth Sultan of Delhi. He reigned from February 1325 until his death in 1351. The sultan was the eldest son of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, founder of the Tughlaq dynasty. In 1321, the youn ...

. A pair of inscriptions record the building of this structure in AH 737 and 739 AH (i.e. 1336-37 and 1338-39 CE).

Islam Shah Suri mosque

A short distance to the south of the Shiva temple is a mosque with an inscription recording its construction in the time of

Islam Shah Islam Shah Suri (reigned: 1545–1554) was the second ruler of the Suri dynasty which ruled the part of India in the mid-16th century. His original name was Jalal Khan and he was the second son of Sher Shah Suri. History On his father's d ...

of the

Sur Dynasty The Sur Empire ( ps, د سرو امپراتورۍ, dë sru amparāturəi; fa, امپراطوری سور, emperâturi sur) was an Afghan dynasty which ruled a large territory in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent for nearly 16 year ...

in 1549. The inscription is placed directly over the mihrab. The shows the continued importance of Udaypur on the north-south route to the Deccan in the time of the Suri rulers. Despite its importance and uniqueness, the authorities have let the monument fall into ruins.

References

{{Reflist Cities and towns in Vidisha district