Nachna Hindu temples - Revision history

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← Older revision		Revision as of 12:02, 24 November 2023
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	are some of the earliest surviving stone temples in central India along with those at Bhumara and Deogarh. Their dating is uncertain, but comparing their style to structures that can be dated, some of the Nachna temples are variously dated to the 5th- or 6th-century [[Gupta Empire]] era. The Chaturmukha temple is dated to the 9th century.<ref name="Wiesner1978p45">{{cite book\|author=Ulrich Wiesner\|title=Nepalese Temple Architecture: Its Characteristics and Its Relations to Indian Development\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoYeAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA45\|year=1978\|publisher=Brill\|isbn=90-04-05666-1\|pages=45–51}}</ref> These temples illustrate a North Indian style of Hindu temple architecture.<ref>{{cite book\|author=Radhakumud Mookerji\|title=The Gupta Empire\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYXDB2gIYbwC&pg=PA146\| year=1959\| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass \|isbn=978-81-208-0440-1\|page=146}}</ref><ref name="Michell1977p95">{{cite book\|author=George Michell\|title=The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ajgImLs62gwC&pg=PA95\|year=1977\|publisher=University of Chicago Press\|isbn=978-0-226-53230-1\|pages=95–96}}</ref>		are some of the earliest surviving stone temples in central India along with those at Bhumara and Deogarh. Their dating is uncertain, but comparing their style to structures that can be dated, some of the Nachna temples are variously dated to the 5th- or 6th-century [[Gupta Empire]] era. The Chaturmukha temple is dated to the 9th century.<ref name="Wiesner1978p45">{{cite book\|author=Ulrich Wiesner\|title=Nepalese Temple Architecture: Its Characteristics and Its Relations to Indian Development\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoYeAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA45\|year=1978\|publisher=Brill\|isbn=90-04-05666-1\|pages=45–51}}</ref> These temples illustrate a North Indian style of Hindu temple architecture.<ref>{{cite book\|author=Radhakumud Mookerji\|title=The Gupta Empire\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYXDB2gIYbwC&pg=PA146\| year=1959\| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass \|isbn=978-81-208-0440-1\|page=146}}</ref><ref name="Michell1977p95">{{cite book\|author=George Michell\|title=The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ajgImLs62gwC&pg=PA95\|year=1977\|publisher=University of Chicago Press\|isbn=978-0-226-53230-1\|pages=95–96}}</ref>

	Most of the temples in the area are in ruins. The best preserved and most studied monument is the Parvati temple at Nachna. The temples are built on a raised and moulded plinth, a square plan, a square sanctum that is surrounded by a circumambulation passage with perforated screen stone windows. The entrance into the sanctum is flanked by goddess Ganga and Yamuna. The Parvati temple has an upper storey with a doorway. The temple includes both religious motifs and secular scenes such as amorous [[mithuna]] couples.<ref name="~~Michell1977p95~~"/><ref name="~~Wiesner1978p45~~"/> The temples are notable for some of the earliest known stone friezes narrating several scenes from the Hindu epic ''[[Ramayana]]''.<ref>B.C. Shukla (1990), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/44148342 The Earliest Inscription of Rama-Worship], Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 51, pp. 838-841</ref><ref name="Iyengar2005p126">{{cite book\|author=Kodaganallur Ramaswami Srinivasa Iyengar\|title=Asian Variations in Ramayana\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CU92nFk5fU4C&pg=PA126\|year=2005\|publisher=Sahitya Akademi\|isbn=978-81-260-1809-3\|pages=126–127, 9 with Photograph Plate 3}}</ref><ref name="Bose2004p337">{{cite book\|author=Mandakranta Bose\|title=The Ramayana Revisited\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Ar2Qfr-UeQC \|year=2004\|publisher=Oxford University Press \|isbn=978-0-19-516832-7\|pages=337, 355}}</ref>		Most of the temples in the area are in ruins. The best preserved and most studied monument is the Parvati temple at Nachna. The temples are built on a raised and moulded plinth, a square plan, a square sanctum that is surrounded by a circumambulation passage with perforated screen stone windows. The entrance into the sanctum is flanked by goddess Ganga and Yamuna. The Parvati temple has an upper storey with a doorway. The temple includes both religious motifs and secular scenes such as amorous [[mithuna]] couples.<ref name="Wiesner1978p45"/><ref name="Michell1977p95"/> The temples are notable for some of the earliest known stone friezes narrating several scenes from the Hindu epic ''[[Ramayana]]''.<ref>B.C. Shukla (1990), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/44148342 The Earliest Inscription of Rama-Worship], Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 51, pp. 838-841</ref><ref name="Iyengar2005p126">{{cite book\|author=Kodaganallur Ramaswami Srinivasa Iyengar\|title=Asian Variations in Ramayana\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CU92nFk5fU4C&pg=PA126\|year=2005\|publisher=Sahitya Akademi\|isbn=978-81-260-1809-3\|pages=126–127, 9 with Photograph Plate 3}}</ref><ref name="Bose2004p337">{{cite book\|author=Mandakranta Bose\|title=The Ramayana Revisited\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Ar2Qfr-UeQC \|year=2004\|publisher=Oxford University Press \|isbn=978-0-19-516832-7\|pages=337, 355}}</ref>

	The temples are near the Panna National Forest, are now a pilgrimage site, which is also referred to as '''Chaumukhnath'''.		The temples are near the Panna National Forest, are now a pilgrimage site, which is also referred to as '''Chaumukhnath'''.
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	The outer walls have perforated stone windows (trellises) to allow natural light in. The upper-story is relatively plain. It lacks a roof or tower, but the structure suggests that it was likely a flat roof temple. This style of construction is seen in a few early temples (such as [[Sanchi]], Temple No. 45; [[Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh\|Deogarh]], Kuraiya-Bir Temple, Lad Khan Temple in [[Aihole]]).<ref name="DattaBeynon2016p54"/>		The outer walls have perforated stone windows (trellises) to allow natural light in. The upper-story is relatively plain. It lacks a roof or tower, but the structure suggests that it was likely a flat roof temple. This style of construction is seen in a few early temples (such as [[Sanchi]], Temple No. 45; [[Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh\|Deogarh]], Kuraiya-Bir Temple, Lad Khan Temple in [[Aihole]]).<ref name="DattaBeynon2016p54"/>

	The Nachana temple is one of the prototypal Hindu temple styles that has survived from ancient India. It includes the cubical sanctum, narrates spiritual legends with carvings of divine legends and secular themes in a certain sequence both outside and inside the temple.<ref name=meisterfull>Michael W. Meister (1986), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20166752 On the Development of a Morphology for a Symbolic Architecture: India], RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, No. 12 (Autumn, 1986), University of Chicago Press, pages 33-50</ref~~><ref name="Williams1982p40"/~~>		The Nachana temple is one of the prototypal Hindu temple styles that has survived from ancient India. It includes the cubical sanctum, narrates spiritual legends with carvings of divine legends and secular themes in a certain sequence both outside and inside the temple.<ref name="Williams1982p40"/><ref name=meisterfull>Michael W. Meister (1986), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20166752 On the Development of a Morphology for a Symbolic Architecture: India], RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, No. 12 (Autumn, 1986), University of Chicago Press, pages 33-50</ref>

	==== Sanctum entrance, door reliefs ====		==== Sanctum entrance, door reliefs ====
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	==== Architecture ====		==== Architecture ====
	Comparable in ground plan and dimensions to the Parvati temple is the Chaumukhnath temple. The temple also has a square plan and has a door design similar to the Parvati temple, but otherwise it very different in style. The building is concentric squares, {{convert\|16.75\|ft}} outside and {{convert\|11.75\|ft}} inside. It does not have the two-storey structure of the Parvati temple, but presents another style in the form of a spire (''shikhara'') instead symbolically mimicking Shiva's Kailash mountain. The Shikhara is slightly curved as it rises towards the sky, with the total height of about {{convert\|40\|ft}}. This temple too stands on a ''jagati'' platform, but unlike the Parvati temple it has stairs to enter the temple from multiple directions.<ref name=cunningham21/><ref name=~~meisterfull~~/><ref name=~~"Williams1982p40"~~/>		Comparable in ground plan and dimensions to the Parvati temple is the Chaumukhnath temple. The temple also has a square plan and has a door design similar to the Parvati temple, but otherwise it very different in style. The building is concentric squares, {{convert\|16.75\|ft}} outside and {{convert\|11.75\|ft}} inside. It does not have the two-storey structure of the Parvati temple, but presents another style in the form of a spire (''shikhara'') instead symbolically mimicking Shiva's Kailash mountain. The Shikhara is slightly curved as it rises towards the sky, with the total height of about {{convert\|40\|ft}}. This temple too stands on a ''jagati'' platform, but unlike the Parvati temple it has stairs to enter the temple from multiple directions.<ref name=cunningham21/><ref name="Williams1982p40"/><ref name=meisterfull/>

	[[File:Nachna Chaumukhnath 1999.JPG\|thumb\|Chaumukhnath ''[[mukhalinga]]''.]]		[[File:Nachna Chaumukhnath 1999.JPG\|thumb\|Chaumukhnath ''[[mukhalinga]]''.]]

Kamal Guha: Madhya Pradesh Hindu temple template added

2023-11-12T23:53:24Z

Madhya Pradesh Hindu temple template added

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:23, 13 November 2023
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	*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/43485318 Le problème des temples à toit plat dans l'Inde du Nord], Odette Viennot, Arts asiatiques (1968, in French, Fig. 22-24: 1919 photos of Nachna temples, Discussion: pp. 30–32)		*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/43485318 Le problème des temples à toit plat dans l'Inde du Nord], Odette Viennot, Arts asiatiques (1968, in French, Fig. 22-24: 1919 photos of Nachna temples, Discussion: pp. 30–32)

			{{Hindu temples in Madhya Pradesh}}
	{{Hindu inscriptions and arts\|state=autocollapse}}		{{Hindu inscriptions and arts\|state=autocollapse}}
	{{Hindudharma}}		{{Hindudharma}}

imported>Uksharma3: /* Chaumukhnath Temple */

2021-06-22T01:50:32Z

Chaumukhnath Temple

New page

{{Short description|Early stone temples in India}}
{{for|the village in Rajasthan|Nachna, Rajasthan}}
{{Infobox religious building
| name = Nachna Hindu temples
| image = Nachna 1999 Parvati-Tempel.JPG
| alt = 5th- or 6th-century Parvati stone temple
| caption = Parvati Temple
| map_type = India #India Madhya Pradesh
| relief = yes
| religious_affiliation = [[Hinduism]]
| other_names =
| proper_name =
| coordinates = {{coord|24|23|57.3|N|80|26|51.2|E|display=inline,title}}
| country = [[India]]
| state = [[Madhya Pradesh]]
| district = [[Panna district|Panna]]<ref name="asibhopal.nic.in">{{cite web |title=Nachna Kuthara Parvati Temple |publisher=
Archaeological Survey of India, Bhopal Circle |url=http://asibhopal.nic.in/monument/panna_nachna_nachnakutharaparvatitemple.html}}</ref>
| location = Ganj
| elevation_m = 225
| deity = [[Shiva]], [[Parvati]], [[Durga]], [[Vishnu]], others
| architecture_style = [[Hindu temple architecture|Nagara]]
| inscriptions =
| year_completed = 5th or 6th century
}}
'''Nachna Hindu temples''', also referred to as '''Nachana temples''' or '''Hindu temples at Nachna-Kuthara''',<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hardy|first=Adam|year=2014|title=Nagara Temple Forms: Reconstructing Lost Origins|journal=Journal of History and Social Sciences|volume=5|issn=2229-5798|url=http://jhss.org/articleview.php?artid=238}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Paul Nietupski|author2=Joan O'Mara|title=Reading Asian Art and Artifacts: Windows to Asia on American College Campuses|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k231LXNkyKMC&pg=PA52 |year=2011|publisher=Lehigh University Press|isbn=978-1-61146-072-8|page=52}}</ref> in [[Panna district]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], India
are some of the earliest surviving stone temples in central India along with those at Bhumara and Deogarh. Their dating is uncertain, but comparing their style to structures that can be dated, some of the Nachna temples are variously dated to the 5th- or 6th-century [[Gupta Empire]] era. The Chaturmukha temple is dated to the 9th century.<ref name="Wiesner1978p45">{{cite book|author=Ulrich Wiesner|title=Nepalese Temple Architecture: Its Characteristics and Its Relations to Indian Development|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoYeAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA45|year=1978|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-04-05666-1|pages=45–51}}</ref> These temples illustrate a North Indian style of Hindu temple architecture.<ref>{{cite book|author=Radhakumud Mookerji|title=The Gupta Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYXDB2gIYbwC&pg=PA146| year=1959| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0440-1|page=146}}</ref><ref name="Michell1977p95">{{cite book|author=George Michell|title=The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ajgImLs62gwC&pg=PA95|year=1977|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-53230-1|pages=95–96}}</ref>

Most of the temples in the area are in ruins. The best preserved and most studied monument is the Parvati temple at Nachna. The temples are built on a raised and moulded plinth, a square plan, a square sanctum that is surrounded by a circumambulation passage with perforated screen stone windows. The entrance into the sanctum is flanked by goddess Ganga and Yamuna. The Parvati temple has an upper storey with a doorway. The temple includes both religious motifs and secular scenes such as amorous [[mithuna]] couples.<ref name="Michell1977p95"/><ref name="Wiesner1978p45"/> The temples are notable for some of the earliest known stone friezes narrating several scenes from the Hindu epic ''[[Ramayana]]''.<ref>B.C. Shukla (1990), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/44148342 The Earliest Inscription of Rama-Worship], Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 51, pp. 838-841</ref><ref name="Iyengar2005p126">{{cite book|author=Kodaganallur Ramaswami Srinivasa Iyengar|title=Asian Variations in Ramayana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CU92nFk5fU4C&pg=PA126|year=2005|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1809-3|pages=126–127, 9 with Photograph Plate 3}}</ref><ref name="Bose2004p337">{{cite book|author=Mandakranta Bose|title=The Ramayana Revisited|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Ar2Qfr-UeQC |year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-516832-7|pages=337, 355}}</ref>

The temples are near the Panna National Forest, are now a pilgrimage site, which is also referred to as '''Chaumukhnath'''.

== Location ==
The temple site is near the Ganj village. It gets its name from the first publication in 1885 by Cunningham that brought it to the attention of western archaeologists during the British colonial era. Cunningham called it the Nachna-Kuthara temples in Volume 21 report of the Archaeological Survey of India, deriving it from the name of the district and another village in the region. The site is about {{convert|60|km}} southwest of [[Satna]], {{convert|100|km}} southeast of [[Khajuraho Group of Monuments|Khajuraho]], {{convert|100|km}} north of [[Katni]], and about {{convert|400|km}} northeast of [[Bhopal]]. The nearest railway station is located in the city of [[Satna]], while the closest major airport with daily services is Khajuraho ([[IATA]]: HJR).<ref>{{cite book|author=Swati Mitra|title=Temples of Madhya Pradesh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=THW_OkoTuE4C&pg=PA40|publisher=Goodearth|isbn=978-93-80262-49-9|pages=40–41}}</ref>

The site is deep inside a forest territory, at the entrance of a difficult to traverse valley within the Vindhya mountains. This, speculated Cunningham, may have contributed to the temple's survival during the Muslim invasion of this region.<ref name=cunningham21>A. Cunningham, [https://archive.org/stream/reports14indigoog#page/n112/mode/2up Bundelkhand and Rewa], ASI Report Vol. 21, pages 95-99</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Nachna Unfinished Inscription of Vyaghradeva.jpg|thumb|upright=2|Nachna unfinished inscription of Vyaghradeva]]
The early history of the site is not known. Cunningham, in his first publication, mentioned that the way to the site was full of ruins and partially bricked monuments, except for the two stone temples with stone reliefs at the site were in remarkably well-preserved condition. According to him, regional people knew about these temples, visited them and thought that Nacchna-Kuthara was an ancient capital city of the Bundelkhand region.<ref name=cunningham21/> Other findings suggest that the site has attracted significant numbers of pilgrims for centuries, and up to the present day. After Cunningham's visit, the upper cella of the Parvati temple collapsed, and it was later reconstructed. The site originally had not yielded any inscriptions in its immediate vicinity, but later two rock inscriptions were found at Nachna site of Ganj. These have been dated to the 470–490 CE period, attributed to Vyaghradeva who inscribes his allegiance to the [[Vakataka]] king Prithvisena.<ref name="Brancaccio2010p100"/> One theory identifies Vyaghradeva with the [[Uchchhakalpa]] king Vyaghra, but this identification is disputed.<ref>{{cite book |author=Ajay Mitra Shastri |author-link=Ajay Mitra Shastri |title=Vākāṭakas: Sources and History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SVlmAAAAMAAJ |year=1997 |publisher=Aryan Books International |isbn=978-81-7305-123-4 |page=179 }}</ref> Nevertheless, the discovery confirms that Nachna region was geo-politically important in the 5th century, and it politically links this region to an era when [[Ajanta Caves]] were also being built.<ref name="Brancaccio2010p100">{{cite book|author=Pia Brancaccio|title=The Buddhist Caves at Aurangabad: Transformations in Art and Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m_4pXm7dD78C&pg=PA100 |year=2010|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-04-18525-9|pages=100–101}}</ref> According to Pia Brancaccio, the artists who built the Aurangabad Buddhist Caves and the Nachna Hindu temples may have come from the same school because the "visual and design elements of cave 3 at Aurangabad display surprising similarities with images and ornamental patterns", particularly when compares the sculpture on Parvati temple's window to those in Aurangabad. She states that the at least some of the 5th-century artisans building Buddhist, Hindu and Jain images in Nachna, Ajanta and Aurangabad regions may have come from the same guild or school, even though the sites are separated by a distance of about {{convert|1000|km}}.<ref>{{cite book|author=Pia Brancaccio|title=The Buddhist Caves at Aurangabad: Transformations in Art and Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m_4pXm7dD78C&pg=PA100 |year=2010|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-04-18525-9|pages=99–101 with images on pages 308–310}}</ref>

===Date===
The two temples of significance at Nachna site are the [[Parvati]] temple built earlier and the Chaumukhnath Mahadeva (Shiva) Temple probably built centuries later.<ref name="Williams1982p40">{{cite book|author=Joanna Gottfried Williams|title=The Art of Gupta India: Empire and Province|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WQl_QgAACAAJ|year=1982|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-10126-2|pages=40–48, 105–107 with Plate 149}}</ref> The Chaumukhanatha temple shows signs of additions and reconstruction in later centuries which makes it difficult to place it chronologically.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}} The region has yielded many ruins in the form of foundation remains, sculpture and decorative parts from what Madhusudan Dhaky calls some ancient Hindu temples that are "now not extant".<ref>{{cite book|author=Madhusudan A. Dhaky|title=The Indian Temple Traceries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gnLqAAAAMAAJ|year=2005|publisher=American Institute of Indian Studies|isbn=978-81-246-0223-2|pages=60–61}}</ref>

Most scholars such as Radhkumud Mookerji place the Parvati Nachna temple in the [[Gupta Empire]] era, more specifically the second half of the 5th century).<ref name="Mookerji">{{cite book|last=Mookerji|first=Radhakumud|title=The Gupta Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYXDB2gIYbwC&pg=PA146|year=2007|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=9788120804401|page=146}}</ref><ref name="Williams">{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Joanna Gottfried|title=Kalādarśana: American Studies in the Art of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qoeAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA160|year=1981|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004064980|page=160}}</ref><ref>University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division [http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ic/id/7853 ''Nachna Kuthar Parvati Temple'']. UW Digital Collections. Retrieved July 20, 2015</ref> Michael Meister, an art historian and professor specializing in Indian temple architecture, places it more specifically to 465 CE.<ref>Michael W. Meister (1986), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20166752 On the Development of a Morphology for a Symbolic Architecture: India], RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, No. 12 (Autumn, 1986), University of Chicago Press, page 45 with Figure 4</ref> George Michell, another professor specializing in Indian temple architecture, states that dating this temple is difficult and places it a few decades later in the 6th century.<ref name="Michell1977p95"/>

The Chaumukhanatha temple is generally placed in the 9th century,<ref name="Wiesner1978p45"/> or at least few centuries after the stone temple dedicated to goddess Parvati. For example, Cunningham's original estimate in 1885 for the Chaumukhanatha temple was 600 to 700 CE, in contrast to his estimate of 400 CE for the Parvati temple.<ref name=cunningham21/>

== Temples ==
[[File:5th century Nachna Parvati Hindu temple plan.jpg|thumb|Parvati temple plan (square sanctum not shown).]]
The two most important temples of Nachna are close together. The Chaumukhnath Temple (translated as 'man with four faces') is dedicated to [[Shiva]] and has a four-faced [[mukhalinga]] in its sanctum. It stands in front of the 'Parvati Temple', but its sanctum image is missing.<ref name="Wiesner1978p45"/>

=== Parvati Temple ===

==== Architecture ====
The Parvati Temple is a two-storey building with almost perfect square plan thick-walled sanctum of {{convert|15|ft}} side on the outside, and is {{convert|8|ft}} sided square inside (the ''garbhagriya'' is a cube). The temple opens to the west and stands on a ''jagati'' (platform) that is {{convert|4.5|ft}} above the ground. The pilgrim reaches its sanctum using a stairway, and after passing through a mandapa that is {{convert|12|ft}} square. The sanctum is surrounded by a roofed ''pradakshina patha'' (circumambulation pathway) that is {{convert|33|ft}} on the outside and {{convert|26|ft}} on the inside.<ref name="Wiesner1978p45"/>{{refn|group=note|The Parvati temple was in a better condition in the late 19th-century with its ambulatory walls and second-floor masonry cella intact. This collapsed and scholarly studies after 1950 have relied on colonial-era photographs in addition to site visits and archaeological discoveries at the site.<ref name="Williams1982p40"/>}}

[[File:Nachna Parvati-Tempel 1999 (3).JPG|thumb|left|The stonework flanking the entrance have concentric panels of reliefs. The inner layer show two standing Shaiva dvarapalas, two seated gana and floral motifs. The outer panel shows the Hindu river goddesses at the bottom; then amorous couples in courtship and love scenes.]]
The outer walls have perforated stone windows (trellises) to allow natural light in. The upper-story is relatively plain. It lacks a roof or tower, but the structure suggests that it was likely a flat roof temple. This style of construction is seen in a few early temples (such as [[Sanchi]], Temple No. 45; [[Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh|Deogarh]], Kuraiya-Bir Temple, Lad Khan Temple in [[Aihole]]).<ref name="DattaBeynon2016p54"/>

The Nachana temple is one of the prototypal Hindu temple styles that has survived from ancient India. It includes the cubical sanctum, narrates spiritual legends with carvings of divine legends and secular themes in a certain sequence both outside and inside the temple.<ref name=meisterfull>Michael W. Meister (1986), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20166752 On the Development of a Morphology for a Symbolic Architecture: India], RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, No. 12 (Autumn, 1986), University of Chicago Press, pages 33-50</ref><ref name="Williams1982p40"/>

==== Sanctum entrance, door reliefs ====
The entrance to the sanctum (''garbhagriha'') has multiple columns, each decorated with carvings, with none monolithic. At their base is a (''[[Kalasha]]''). The lintel are also intricately carved. The doorway is flanked by guard figures in the lower part with [[Ganga in Hinduism|Ganga]] with river crocodile and [[Yamuna in Hinduism|Yamuna]] with river turtle. Beside them towards the inside are symmetrically placed graceful Shaiva ''dvarapalas'' (door guardians), each holding the trident. Each is relatively larger than the river goddesses, but about {{convert|1|ft}} in height. Concentric to the entrance are panels of intricate carvings. The first panel has floral and geometric motifs from the 5th century. Concentric to these are 10 friezes, 5 on each side above the river goddesses. These carvings show courtship and love making scenes (''[[mithuna]]s''). On top of the lintel of the doorway are seated men and women miniatures shown as if they are leaning in and peering into the center of the sanctum. The style of sanctum door has stylistic similarities with those found in the Lakshmana Temple in the [[Sirpur Group of Monuments]] in [[Chhattisgarh]].<ref name="Wiesner1978p45"/><ref name="Williams1982p40"/><ref name="DattaBeynon2016p54">{{cite book|author1=Sambit Datta|author2=David Beynon|title=Digital Archetypes: Adaptations of Early Temple Architecture in South and Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CkAHDAAAQBAJ |year=2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-15093-0|pages=54–59}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Mithuna, Nachna, Parvati-Tempel 1.jpg|Mithuna
File:Mithuna, Nachna, Parvati-Tempel 2.jpg|Mithuna
File:Zwerg, Nachna.jpg|Dwarf with Tendrils
</gallery>

[[File:Nachna Parvati-Tempel Jali 1999.JPG|thumb|Perforated stone window at Parvati Temple]]

==== Perforated window ====
Two of the oldest trellises ([[jali]]s, perforated windows) of the Parvati temple show [[Gana]]s playing music, dancing or abstract decor. These probably date back to the third period of the 5th century.

In the 'rocky landscape' of the platform walls several small animal reliefs (resting gazelles etc.) were created, of which only a few have been preserved.

=== Chaumukhnath Temple ===
The Chaumukhnath temple, also referred to as the Chaturmukh Mahadeva temple, is named after the colossal linga inside the temple whose surface is carved with four faces on the four cardinal directions.<ref name=cunningham21/> The five faces are believed to express the five aspects of Shiva, namely, creation ([[Vamadeva]]), maintenance ([[Tatpurusha]]), destruction ([[Bhairava|Aghora]]), beyond space ([[Ishvara|Isana]]) and introspection ([[Sadyojata]]). The walls of the temple have images of divine attendants and each corner has the image of Dikpalaka. There are five storeys with images of carvings of ganas and river goddess on windows and doors.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Grand temples of Madhya Pradesh|journal=Tattvaloka|date=September 2018|volume=XLI|issue=6|publisher=Sri Abhinava Vidyatheertha Mahaswamigal Educational Trust|location=[[Sringeri]]|issn=0970-8901|last=Ramakrishna|first=Lalitha|pages=47–52}}</ref>

==== Architecture ====
Comparable in ground plan and dimensions to the Parvati temple is the Chaumukhnath temple. The temple also has a square plan and has a door design similar to the Parvati temple, but otherwise it very different in style. The building is concentric squares, {{convert|16.75|ft}} outside and {{convert|11.75|ft}} inside. It does not have the two-storey structure of the Parvati temple, but presents another style in the form of a spire (''shikhara'') instead symbolically mimicking Shiva's Kailash mountain. The Shikhara is slightly curved as it rises towards the sky, with the total height of about {{convert|40|ft}}. This temple too stands on a ''jagati'' platform, but unlike the Parvati temple it has stairs to enter the temple from multiple directions.<ref name=cunningham21/><ref name=meisterfull/><ref name="Williams1982p40"/>

[[File:Nachna Chaumukhnath 1999.JPG|thumb|Chaumukhnath ''[[mukhalinga]]''.]]
Offset from the Parvati temple, it opens towards the east, toward the rising sun. The architectural history of the temple is unusual and complex. It is likely that there was a Shiva temple here with its linga, but the temple was largely rebuilt in the 9th century on the original 5th-century platform and it reused as many parts as it could, such as the windows of the late-5th-century temple. The outer wall of the temple is divided in several places with the rich architectural decoration consisting of trellises, figures (''mithunas''), niches and decorative panels (''udgamas'') of the [[Pratihara]] style being attached at various levels, which lends the temple an unusual and interesting appearance. Visually and architecturally separated by a peripheral ledge of the outer wall sanctum, its tower was set up shortly afterwards.<ref name="Williams1982p40"/>

==== Lingam ====
[[File:Nachna, Chaumukhnath-Tempel Jali-Fenster (1999).jpg|thumb|Chaumukhnath trellis, possibly from the 5th century, with dancing and music-making Ganas and the river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna]]

The interior of the small sanctum (''garbhagriha'') holds an approximately {{convert|4.67|ft}} high Shiva-[[lingam]] with four faces (''[[mukhalinga]]'') with elaborate hair style, three of which exude calm with meditating closed eye, smiling posture. The fourth face of Shiva is shown as energized and in action, with wide open mouth, raised nostrils and slightly bulging open eyes likely the terrible aspect in his form as [[Bhairava]]. [[Stella Kramrisch]] dates the linga inside this temple to the 8th century.<ref>{{cite book|author=Stella Kramrisch|authorlink=Stella Kramrisch|title=Exploring India's Sacred Art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxPeWwFz9MkC&pg=PA258|date=30 April 1994|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1208-6|pages=258–259}}</ref> The faces of the ''mukhalinga'' represent the ''Panchamukha'' aspects of Shiva iconography, where Tatpurusha, Aghora (Bhairava, Rudra), Vamadeva and Sadyojata face the four cardinal directions, while Ishana the fifth is beyond space, all directions and time as the formless absolute in Hindu theology. They symbolize the creation (Vamadeva), maintenance (Tatpurusha), destruction (Aghora), and introspective subtle reflective Sadyojata aspects of Shiva as the metaphysical [[Brahman]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Stella Kramrisch|authorlink=Stella Kramrisch|title=Exploring India's Sacred Art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxPeWwFz9MkC&pg=PA258|date=30 April 1994|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1208-6|pages=143–145}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Pratapaditya Pal|title=Art of Nepal: A Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zt9e6Ttr_IcC&pg=PA109|year=1985|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-05407-3|pages=109–110}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Mahadev Chakravarti|title=The Concept of Rudra-Śiva Through the Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yMFwMHH4HzMC&pg=PA161|year=1986|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0053-3|pages=160–173}}</ref>

==== Trellis: stone window ====
[[File:Nachna, Vishnu-Pfeiler (1999).jpg|thumb|Nachna [[Vaishnavism]] themed ruin with four Vishnu [[Avatar]] representations; above: left is man-lion [[Narasimha]], right is boar-headed [[Varaha]].]]

Three [[Jali]] windows, which let little light into the dark sanctum, are among the temple's attractions. Its multi-layered composition and decorative figures are significantly more elaborate than the Jalis at Parvati Temple and more representative of the local adornments artistically-speaking. The actual window panel consists of two shells with rich profiled—reminiscent of wooden model—lattices inside and three small arcades in the exterior, formed as [[horseshoe arch]]es. The polygonal broken pillars standing on a cubic base have a pumpkin-shaped pinnacle (''[[amalaka]]'') and end in a block-like attachment with [[Abacus architecture|abaco panel]].

All three windows display music playing and dancing Ganas at the bottom, with symmetrically arranged river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna appearing in addition to their ''[[vahana]]s'', in this case, each a river monster (''[[Makara (Hindu mythology)|Makara]]''). The recessed frame mounts (''shakhas'') are richly decorated.

=== Other temples ===

About 400 meters south of the archaeological site of Nachna are more, relatively new temples (Teliya Madh temple, Rupani Temple), in which at its later establishment were fitted many century old figures and relief parts from destroyed Gupta temples. The ruins around the site suggest that in Nachna there were formerly several more temples from the Gupta-era.

An old stone window from the 5th century with horseshoe-shaped keyhole openings and several sculptures found were set up in the immediate vicinity of the Main Zone.

== Environment ==

Several smaller archaeological sites are found in a 15 km radius of Nachna: Pipariya, Khoh, [[Bhumara]], and others. These are also attributed to the Gupta period, but are much less known and explored. In 1979 the Shiva temple of Bhumara was restored; it is one of the best preserved. The Gupta Temple of [[Tigawa]] is located about 80 km south-west, with another Gupta temple in [[Sanchi]]. The ruins of [[Bharhut]] Buddhist stupas are 12 km east. [[Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh|Dashavatara Temple]] is in Deogarh.

== Significance ==

The stone-based architecture and artwork at the temple site has survived, while the brick temples have not. Among the stone reliefs are some of the earliest known Ramayana friezes, such as the scene where Ravana appears in front of Sita pretending to be a recluse monk begging for food, while in reality seeking that she cross the protective ''Lakshmana Rekha'' so that he can kidnap her.<ref name="Iyengar2005p126"/> Other ''Ramayana'' scenes depicted in Nachna site panels are among the most sustained ancient visual narratives of the epic,{{refn|group=note|Four of the studied scenes found at the Nachna site are: [a] Ravana pretending to beg alms from Sita as a monk; [b] Upset Sita rebuking Lakshmana who places his hand on his ears because he doesn't want to hear it; [c] Rama hesitating in shooting his arrow to kill the heroic Vali who looks just like Sugriva; [d] The monkey army leaders including Hanuman offering respect to Rama.<ref name="Bose2004p337"/>}} comparable in significance to those found in the Vishnu temple in Deogarh. However, these are not the oldest known ''Ramayana'' depiction such as those found in Bharhut site dated to the 2nd century BCE, and at the Sanchi site generally dated to 1st century BCE to 1st century CE.<ref name="Bose2004p337"/>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
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*{{cite book|author=Prasanna Kumar Acharya|title=A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture: Treating of Sanskrit Architectural Terms with Illustrative Quotations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rbayQwAACAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press (Reprinted in 1997 by Motilal Banarsidass)|isbn=978-81-7536-113-3}}
*{{cite book|author1=Vinayak Bharne|author2=Krupali Krusche|title=Rediscovering the Hindu Temple: The Sacred Architecture and Urbanism of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGukBgAAQBAJ |year=2014|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-6734-4}}
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*{{cite book|author1=Alice Boner|author2=Sadāśiva Rath Śarmā|title=Silpa Prakasa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=itQUAAAAIAAJ|year=2005|publisher=Brill Academic (Reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass)|isbn=978-8120820524}}
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*{{cite book|author=Adam Hardy|title=The Temple Architecture of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofUVAQAAIAAJ |year=2007|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0470028278}}
*{{cite book|author=Adam Hardy|title=Theory and Practice of Temple Architecture in Medieval India: Bhoja's Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra and the Bhojpur Line Drawings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_oADrgEACAAJ|year=2015|publisher=Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts|isbn=978-93-81406-41-0}}
*Harle, J.C., ''The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent'', 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, {{ISBN|0300062176}}
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*{{cite book|author=Stella Kramrisch|title=The Hindu Temple Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NNcXrBlI9S0C|year= 1976|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (Reprinted 1946 Princeton University Press)|isbn=978-81-208-0223-0}}
*{{cite book|author=Stella Kramrisch|title=The Hindu Temple Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-aS52MgIkMC|year= 1979|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (Reprinted 1946 Princeton University Press)|isbn=978-81-208-0224-7}}
*{{cite book|author1=Michael W. Meister|author2=Madhusudan Dhaky|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian temple architecture|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DRY3AQAAIAAJ|year=1986|publisher=American Institute of Indian Studies|isbn=978-0-8122-7992-4}}
* Michael W. Meister et al. (Eds.): ''Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture. North India—Foundations of North Indian Style'' Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1988, {{ISBN|0-691-04053-2}}, p. 39f.
* Michael W. Meister, MA Dhaky (Eds.): ''Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture: North India—Period of Early Maturity'' Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1991, {{ISBN|0-691-04053-2}}, p. 69ff.
*{{cite book|author=George Michell|title=The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ajgImLs62gwC|year=1988|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-53230-1}}
*{{cite book|author=George Michell|title=Hindu Art and Architecture|url=https://archive.org/details/hinduartarchitec00mich|url-access=registration|year=2000|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-20337-8}}
*{{cite book|author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao|title=Elements of Hindu iconography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJD-KresBwIC |year=1993 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0878-2}}
*{{cite book|author=Ajay J. Sinha|title=Imagining Architects: Creativity in the Religious Monuments of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WvqLzaSUGi8C |year=2000|publisher=University of Delaware Press|isbn=978-0-87413-684-5}}
*{{cite book|title=South Indian Temples|author=Burton Stein|isbn=978-0706904499|publisher =Vikas|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Hq5BngAACAAJ| year=1978}}
*{{cite book|author=Burton Stein|title=The New Cambridge History of India: Vijayanagara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpxeaYQbGDMC|year=1989|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-26693-2}}
*{{cite book|author1=Burton Stein|author2=David Arnold|title=A History of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4zdTDwMAQC|year=2010|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-2351-1}}
* Joanna Gottfried Williams: ''The Art of Gupta India: Empire and Province'' Princeton University Press, Princeton 1982, {{ISBN|0-691-03988-7}}, pp. 105–114.
* RD Trivedi: ''Temples of the Pratihara Period in Central India'' Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi 1990, p. 125ff.
* George Michell: ''The Hindu temple: Architecture of a world religion'' DuMont, Cologne 1991, {{ISBN|3-7701-2770-6}}, p. 122f.
*{{cite book|author=Kapila Vatsyayan|title=The Square and the Circle of the Indian Arts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwLJc3pBzzUC&pg=PR10|year=1997|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-362-5}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/43485318 Le problème des temples à toit plat dans l'Inde du Nord], Odette Viennot, Arts asiatiques (1968, in French, Fig. 22-24: 1919 photos of Nachna temples, Discussion: pp. 30–32)

{{Hindu inscriptions and arts|state=autocollapse}}
{{Hindudharma}}

[[Category:Hindu temples in Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Culture of Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:5th-century Hindu temples]]
[[Category:Gupta art]]
[[Category:Satna district]]