__NOTOC__ Pashupatinath Temple at Mandsaur, also referred to as the Mandsaur Shiva temple, is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

dedicated to Lord

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

Mandsaur Mandsaur is a city and a municipality in Mandsaur district located on the border of Mewar and Malwa regions of Madhya Pradesh, a state in Central India. It is the administrative headquarters of Mandsaur District. The ancient Pashupatinath Tem ...

, Madhya Pradesh, India. It belongs to Pashupatinath tradition which is one of 6 major tradition within

Shaivism Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Para Brahman, supreme being. It is the Hinduism#Demographics, second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million H ...

. It is located on Shivna River, and is known for its eight-faced

Shiva Linga A lingam ( , 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. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...

. The temple sculpture is dated to the 5th or 6th century based on inscriptions, with some referring to the site as Dashapura. It is near the

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

border in the historic region of Malwa, about from

Indore Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...

, about west of Udaigiri Caves and about east of Shamalaji ancient sites, both a significant source of

Gupta Empire The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...

era archaeological discoveries. The site has been important to dating and the architectural studies of some distant sites such as the Elephanta Caves. The site's history is traceable to the 2nd-century CE when it was already a Hindu pilgrimage site. It is mentioned by the ancient Indian poet

Kalidasa Kālidāsa (, "Servant of Kali"; 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on Hindu Puranas and philosophy. His surviv ...

, who praises the women of Dashapura as "so practiced in their seductive movements". Ten inscriptions found in the area suggest the Mandsaur site was an important cultural and religious center in the first half of the 1st millennium CE. Nine of these inscriptions are Sanskrit poems, most dated between 404 and 487 CE, and all include invocations to Hindu gods such as Vasudeva and Shiva in various forms. They mention kings of Gupta Empire era, as well as temples of Dashapura.Joanna Williams (1973)
The Sculpture of Mandasor
Archives of Asian Art, Vol. 26 (1972/1973), Duke University Press, pp. 50-66 Together with dozens of temples discovered at a number of sites in western Madhya Pradesh, eastern Rajasthan and northern

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

region, the Mandsaur site with the Shiva Stele and the temple reflect what Stella Kramrisch called one of the "Western schools" of ancient and early medieval Indian art. James Harle concurs and includes the nearby Sondni and Kilchipura sites to the Western school along with regions farther west. According to Harle, the sculpture from the temple and other archaeological findings such as the Mandsaur inscriptions – one of which he calls "the longest and certainly the most beautiful of the Gupta inscriptions" – reflect the "flavor of life at its best in Gupta times". The inscriptions, state Harle and other scholars, suggest that the sculpture and temples of Mandsaur were built with resources pooled by the common people, such as silk weavers of Dashapura (Mandsaur) who had settled there from Gujarat. However, these inscriptions mention a

Surya Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...

(Sun) temple, a

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

temple and others. They do not mention the Pashupatinath temple. Excavations have yielded several brick temples of Shiva which have been dated to the 6th century, suggesting that Shiva was a prominent deity along with others in ancient Mandasor. Additionally, only the foundations of most early temples and monuments are presently identifiable, as the Buddhist, Hindu and Jain temples in Mandsaur were demolished and its stones and relief panels used to build a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

fort after the region was conquered in the late medieval era. The eight face Shiva found in the reconstructed Pashupatinath temple is from the 1st millennium CE and a rare iconography. It is tall and was discovered in the river bed of the Shivana. It has been reconsecrated into the temple. The upper part of the linga has four heads in a line, while the other four heads are carved below them in the second line. The faces have open eyes, with the third eye on their forehead visible. Each face has elaborate hair probably reflecting the culture of its time for men. Each wears jewelry such as earlobes, necklace and more. The eight faces represent the various aspects of Shiva in regional Shaivism theology: Bhava,

Pashupati Paśupati (, ) is a form of the Hindu deity Śiva, in his benign aspect as the five-faced herdsman of all creatures. Paśupati is traditionally considered to be the guardian deity of Nepal, described in texts such as the ''Nepāla Māhātmya'' ...

, Mahadeva, Isana, Rudra, Sharva, Ugra and Asani. It is sometimes referred to as ''Ashtamukha'' or ''Ashtamurti''. According to Goyala, this Mandsaur linga is likely from the early 6th century.

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* {{Hindudharma Hindu temples in Madhya Pradesh Gupta art Mandsaur Hindu temples sacked in the Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent Tourist attractions in Mandsaur district

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References

External links