Da Parbatia
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Da Parbatia is a small village very close to west
Tezpur Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 100, ...
, in the Indian State of Assam. In the village there are significant architectural remnants of an ancient temple of the 6th century overlying the ruins of another Shiva temple built of bricks during the
Ahom Ahom may refer to: *Ahom people, an ethnic community in Assam * Ahom language, a language associated with the Ahom people *Ahom religion, an ethnic folk religion of Tai-Ahom people *Ahom alphabet, a script used to write the Ahom language * Ahom kin ...
period. Archaeological excavations done here in 1924 have unearthed a sixth-century antiquity in the form of a stone door frame with extensive carvings. The ruins of the temple built during the Ahom period are built over the ancient temple's foundations and are in the form of a stone paved layout plan of the sanctum sanctorum and a
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, ...
. This complex is under the jurisdiction of the Archaeological Survey of India and its importance and notability is recorded under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958.


Archaeological excavations

The Dah Parvatiya village, located to the west of Tezpur, was subject to archaeological excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India in 1924, and also during 1989–90. The excavations of many mounds have revealed structural features built of brick and stone; these are in various stages of decay. The excavations revealed many terracotta plaques in which human figures were shown in a sitting position.


History

The antiquities found at the Dah Parvatiya are inferred to have been from a temple complex built during the 5th or 6th century, prior to the Bhaskaravarman period. On the basis of the mouldings and its architectural style it is inferred that the terracotta plaques are definitely not later than the 6th century; the altered form of
motif Motif may refer to: General concepts * Motif (chess composition), an element of a move in the consideration of its purpose * Motif (folkloristics), a recurring element that creates recognizable patterns in folklore and folk-art traditions * Moti ...
s noted in Assam confirms this assessment. This type of architectural feature, particularly in the stylistics of figurines of the ruins, is seen in North India, in the temples of the Bhumra and Nachha Kuthara which belonged to the Gupta period. Further confirmation of the dating is provided by the carvings of the river Goddesses
Ganga The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
and Yamuna, which are also akin to the
Greek architecture Ancient Greek architecture came from the Greek-speaking people (''Hellenic'' people) whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC unti ...
with striking similarity to the Hellenistic art. The decorative elements of the ruins also have close similarity with those seen in the temples of Orissa. During the Ahom period, a Shiva temple was built with bricks over the ruins of an ancient Gupta period temple. When the Ahom period temple was destroyed during the
Assam Earthquake of 1897 The Assam earthquake of 1897 occurred on 12 June 1897, in Assam, British India at 11:06 UTC, and had an estimated moment magnitude of 8.2–8.3. It resulted in approximate 1,542 human casualties and caused catastrophic damage to infrastructure ...
, the remains of Gupta period temple were exposed but only in the form of a door frame made of stone. Epigraphic evidence and ancient literature found here, supplemented by the ruins seen scattered around the area, also confirms that in the pre-Ahom period Gupta art extended into the early Medieval period.


Features

The excavated foundation of the temple of the Gupta period revealed the base of the garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) in a roughly square form measuring x , which is enclosed by a circumambulatory passage leading to a colonnaded hall of rectangular shape, which is interpreted as a
mantapa 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, ...
or outdoor pavilion. To the east of the mantapa is a ''mukhamantapa'' (front hall), which is of smaller size. In the open space of the garbhagriha there is a "stone kunda" or
Vedi (altar) ''Vedi'' () is the sacrificial altar in the Vedic religion. Such altars were an elevated outdoor enclosure, generally strewed with Kusha grass, and having receptacles for the sacrificial fire; it was of various shapes, but usually narrow in the ...
of x size with a depth of . It is also inferred from the exposed ruins that the original temple was built of bricks (of size x x ) which were in use in the 5th century, with door frames and sill made of stone. The door frame made of stone, which stands in front of a large block of stone with a square cavity that held the original linga, is the most important find here that has carvings which attest to the Gupta period art form. The architectural depictions on this door frame are akin to the Gupta architectural features in Northern India, deciphered in the archaeological excavations done by
Sir John Marshall Sir John Hubert Marshall (19 March 1876, Chester, England – 17 August 1958, Guildford, England) was an English archaeologist who was Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1902 to 1928. He oversaw the excavations of Ha ...
.


Doorjambs

The
door jamb A jamb (from French ''jambe'', "leg"), in architecture, is the side-post or lining of a doorway or other aperture. The jambs of a window outside the frame are called “reveals.” Small shafts to doors and windows with caps and bases are know ...
s or posts (the vertical part of the door frame), which measure in height and in width, have high relief carvings in their lower parts while the upper parts have four vertical bands or strips carved in different patterns. The human figures carved at the base of the door posts are of the river goddesses
Ganga The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
and Yamuna, which belong to the Gupta period art traditions, and also depict carvings of flying geese. This architectural depiction is stated to be the "finest and oldest specimen of sculptural art in Assam". The goddesses carved in an elegant standing posture are shown with divine halos over their heads with each figure holding a garland in its hands. This type of depiction of goddesses on the door frames was prevalent in the medieval temples. Many smaller figurines are also carved as if in attendance to the main goddess. On the right door post, there are two female attendants, one is in a standing posture holding up a
chamara Chamara (Sinhala: චාමර) is a Sinhalese name that may refer to the following notable people: ;Given name * Chamara Dunusinghe (born 1970), Sri Lankan cricketer * Chamara Fernando (born 1988), Sri Lankan cricketer *Chamara Janaraj Peiris (born ...
or an umbrella while the second attendant is shown on bent knees and holding a flat tray filled with flowers. The carvings on the right door post are better preserved than those on the left. On the left door post, the two figurines standing in attendance flanking the goddess are not distinct. Here, there is also a carving of a
naga Naga or NAGA may refer to: Mythology * Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions * Naga Kingdom, in the epic ''Mahabharata'' * Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong Riv ...
in a kneeling posture carved to the right of the halo of the goddess; to the left of this depiction there are carvings of two geese. Vertical bands The vertical strips in each of the upper part of the door posts extend up to the lintel. The first strip, starting from the head of the
naga Naga or NAGA may refer to: Mythology * Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions * Naga Kingdom, in the epic ''Mahabharata'' * Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong Riv ...
or the nagi, is carved in the wavy pattern of a creeper and is filled with decorations of leaves pattern. The second band is like a lotus stem, out of which lotus leaves and different flowers emerge; the stem is supported at the base by two pygmy shaped figures. The third strip has embossed panels of human figures fronting ornamental leaves. This band is crowned by a vase with drooping decorative foliage. The vase is also decorated with a square shaped pilaster that terminates in a
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
, which has a cruciform. The capital has carvings of a gana (attendant of Shiva). Decorative rosettees form the fourth strip.


Lintel

The lintel spanning over the door posts is in length and in breadth. The lintel is larger in size than the door-frame, extending a little on each side of the jambs. It is richly decorated with architectural carvings which are placed in a symmetrical form, similar to the architectural features seen in the fifth and sixth century temples in Pataliputra and Benares. Five Chaitya-windows (horse-shoe shaped) are carved in the front face of the lintel – three large and two small – with the figurine of a male with four arms carved in the extreme right window seated on a throne; two of its arms are damaged while one arm is seen holding Shiva's damaru. At the base of this throne there is a carving in the form of sea waves. The central window has a Shiva carving known as " Lakulisa", meaning Lord with the staff, a rope tied to its leg and is flanked by two mythical deities, called "''suparna''", anthropomorphic figures of a bird and man. Also seen in this window are two females figures. In another window is a depiction of man playing the
flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
, and with a hooded snake feature above his head. The window to the extreme right has carving of
Surya Surya (; sa, सूर्य, ) is the sun as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja and a m ...
, the Sun god, in a cross-legged posture holding a
lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...
flower. Two attendants are seen next to this figure, one is offering betel leaves ( pan) while holding an ink pot in the other hand, and the second attendant is carrying a stick.


References


Bibliography

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External links


Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts
{{Hindu Temples in Assam Hindu temples in Assam Archaeological sites in Assam Tezpur 6th-century Hindu temples Shiva temples Vishnu temples