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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=" | 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 | 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= | 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]]''.]] | ||