Wangath Temple complex - Revision history

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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox Hindu temple
| name = Wangath Temple complex
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| map_type = India Jammu and Kashmir#India
| map_caption = Location in Jammu and Kashmir, India
| coordinates = {{coord|34.35|74.97|type:landmark_region:IN|display=inline,title}}
| country = India
| state = [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]]
| district = [[Ganderbal district|Ganderbal]]
| locale = [[Anantnag]]
| elevation_m = 1,619
| deity = [[Shiva]]
| festivals=
| architecture =
| temple_quantity = 17 (seventeen)
| monument_quantity =
| inscriptions =
| year_completed = 8th century AD
| creator = Jaluka Maurya, Son of [[Ashoka]]{{fact|date=September 2020}} and later [[Lalitaditya Muktapida]]
| website =
}}
'''Wangath Temple complex''' is a group of monuments in Wangath, close to [[Naranag]], in the Ganderbal district of [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]]. Wangath is a village located around {{convert|48|mi}} northeast of [[Srinagar]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Parmanand Parashar |title=Kashmir: The Paradise of Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gylNFls7xxoC&pg=PA249 |publisher=Sarup & Sons, Darya Ganj, Delhi |ISBN=81-7625-518-1 |year=2004 |page=249 }}</ref> The current structure was built by [[Lalitaditya Muktapida]] of the Karkota dynasty in the 8th century AD.<ref>{{cite book |author= Hermann Goetz |title=The Early Wooden Temples of Chamba |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kMwUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA66|publisher=Copyright, 1955, by E.J. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands |year=1955 |pages=66, 114}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Naranag Temple of kashmir.JPG|thumb|left|Naranag temple complex at Wangath]]
[[Kalhana]] notes in ''[[Rajatarangini]]'' that [[Ashoka]] built the city of Srinagar in the 3rd century BC. His son Jaluka, 220 BC, built the Shaivite temples Bhuteshvara, Jyestarudra, and ''[[Matha|Muthas]]'' in the Wangath valley around the holy spring of [[Naranag]]. The Wangath temples were built in three groups, around the same time as the [[Shankaracharya Temple]] in Srinagari and the Bumazuv temple near Mattan.<ref name="CL Gadoo">{{cite book |author=Chaman Lal Gadoo |title=KASHMIR: Hindu Shrines |publisher=Vidya Gauri Gadoo Research Center, Shakarpur, Delhi |ISBN=978-81-910057-0-7 |year=2009 |page=67}}</ref> King Jaluka built a stone temple at the site of the spring ''Naranag'' around 137BC. King Jayendra (61 BC) used to worship Shiva Bhutesha at the shrine. [[Lalitaditya Muktapida]] (713-735 AD) donated a good sum of money to the shrine after his victorious expedition. King Avantivarman (855-883 AD) built a stone pedestal with a silver conduit at this shrine for the bathing of sacred images. Kalhana's father Canpaka and uncle Kanka also frequented the site.

As per Kalhana, the treasury of this shrine was plundered by King Sangramraja of Kashmir (1003-28 AD), during King Uccala's time (1101 – 1111 AD) and later by the rebel baron Hayavadana.<ref>{{cite book |author=Bansi Lal Malla |title=Sculptures of Kashmir, 600 - 1200 A.D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-fVAAAAMAAJ&dq=wangath+temple&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=wangath |publisher=Agam Kala Prakashan |year=2009 |page=16 }}</ref>

== Architecture and style ==
[[File:Wangath Naranag Temple complex.jpg|thumb|left|Wangath temple complex, partial shot]]
Bishop Crowie and Major Cole have identified the ruins of seventeen temple structures of various ages and dimensions in Buthser, near Wangath, in two distinct groups: the first on the western side and the second on the eastern side. Each group is enclosed by a separate stone wall, and lie a short distance from one another.<ref name="CL Gadoo"/> The temple complex is located along the ''Kanka nadi'' or the ''Kanaknai'' and is constructed of local grey granite.<ref name="Krishna Deva">{{cite book |author=Krishna Deva |title=Temples of India: Text [Vol 1] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=StnVAAAAMAAJ&q=wangath+temple&dq=wangath+temple |publisher=Aryan Books International (Original from University of Michigan) |ISBN=9788173050541 |year=1995 |page=230 }}</ref> Between the two groups of temples stand a number of structures of a third group, the ''Mathas''.

=== Western complex ===
The first group of six temples, also identified by [[Aurel Stein]] as ''Shiva-Jyestharudra'' or ''Shiva-Jyeshthesa'', is situated within an enclosure wall.<ref name="CL Gadoo"/> The Jyestharudra group is placed on high grounds and consists of a main temple of ''Jyeshthesa'' (Shiva) surrounded by subsidiary shrines.<ref name="Krishna Deva"/> The principal structure is a square of {{convert|25|ft}} externally and {{convert|17|ft}} internally, and has two entrances opposite each other, facing the northeast and southwest. In the center of the floor is a square space which is unpaved. It marks the site of the pedestal of the image. Internally, it has a domed ceiling. Externally, the roof is pyramidal.<ref name="CL Gadoo"/>

=== Eastern complex ===
The second group of temples is enclosed in a massive rectangular stone wall, pierced by a two-chambered gateway. The six temples inside the wall are in ruins and are partly buried in the ground. The largest temple has a {{convert|17|ft}} square base internally, similar to the largest temple in the western complex. This temple has been identified by Stein as ''Shiva-Bhuteshwara''.<ref name="CL Gadoo"/>

=== Central pavilion ===
Between the western and eastern complexes lie a number of structures of a third group. This consists of the remains of a building measuring {{convert|120|ft}} by {{convert|70|ft}}, with a height of {{convert|10|ft}}. Along the side of this structure are 30 monolithic bases or piers at intervals of {{convert|12|ft}}. This was a pillared pavilion or ''matha''. An impressive {{convert|18|ft}} rectangular cistern, hammered out of a boulder, is nearby.<ref name="CL Gadoo"/>

==Present status==

===Site of national importance===
The [[Archaeological Survey of India]] has declared the Wangath Temple complex at Naranag as centrally protected monuments of India.<ref>{{cite web |title=Archaeological Survey of India protected monuments |url=http://www.teindia.nic.in/mhrd/50yrsedu/12/8i/AW/8IAW0E01.htm |access-date=7 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Archaeological Survey of India protected monuments |url=http://www.heritageofkashmir.org/heritage-tourism/asi-protected-monuments.html |publisher=heritageofkashmir.org |access-date=11 August 2012}}</ref> The temple appears in the list of "centrally protected monuments" as "Group of Ancient Temples" at Naranag, Kangan.<ref>{{cite web |title=Protected monuments in Jammu & Kashmir | url=http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_alphalist_jk.asp|publisher=asi.nic.in, Archeological surey of india |access-date=29 October 2012}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Jammu and Kashmir topics}}

[[Category:Hindu temples in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Destroyed temples]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Shiva temples in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC Hindu temples]]
[[Category:7th-century Hindu temples]]
[[Category:Ganderbal district]]