Udaypur (sometimes Udaipur) is a town in

Vidisha district Vidisha District (Hindi: विदिशा; ) is in Madhya Pradesh state, in central India. The city of Vidisha is the administrative headquarters of the district. Geography The district is bounded by the districts of Ashoknagar to the northea ...

of the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, near Vidisha city. 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 Alexander ...

History

Udaypur'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

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

Transport

Udaypur is connected by bus service from

Ganj Basoda railway station Ganj Basoda railway station is a railway station in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh. The station is located in the city of Ganj Basoda, situated on the New Delhi–Chennai main line. Its code is BAQ. It is connected to the major cities of ...

93 km from Bhopal Junction towards Jhansi (203 km) and 604 km from New Delhi Jn.

Monuments

The monuments of Udaypur 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 Udaypur is that dedicated to Śiva and known today as the Nīlakaṇṭheśvara. The temple is a

Monument of National Importance A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

under the

, number N-MP-289. The temple was completed in 1080 CE, and is the only surviving royal temple of the Paramara kings.

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), or Muhammad II, also named Jauna Khan as Crown Prince, further known by his epithets, The Eccentric Prince, or The Mad Sultan, was the eighteenth Sultan of Delhi. He reigned from 4 February ...

. A pair of inscriptions record the building of this structure in .

Jain temple

A short distance to the north-west of the Nīlakaṇṭheśvara is a Jain temple complex. The temple proper is recent and the adjacent arcades of the courtyard belong to 19th century. A number of Jain images of the Paramāra period are on display there and document the presence of the Digambara Jain community at Udaypur in medieval times. The adjacent buildings, perhaps of the 17th century, were underdemolition in 2016.

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 (born Jalal Khan; 1507 – 22 November 1554) also known as Salim Shah Suri, was Sultan of Hindustan from 27 May 1545 until his death in 1554. He was the second ruler of the Sur Empire which ruled parts of India in the mid-16th ...

of the

Sur Dynasty The Sur Empire was an empire ruled by the Afghan (ethnonym), Afghan-origin Sur dynasty in North India, northern India for nearly 16 or 18 years, between 1538/1540 and 1556, with Sasaram (in modern-day Bihar) serving as its capital. It was fou ...

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.

Shahi Mahal

Directly east of Nīlakaṇṭheśvara is a large palace complex known as Shāhī Maḥal, which served as the residence of the local governor during the Mughal rule, completed in CE.

References

{{Bhopal Division Cities and towns in Vidisha district