Martand Sun Temple

Coordinates: 33°44′44″N 75°13′13″E / 33.74556°N 75.22028°E / 33.74556; 75.22028
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Martand Sun Temple
Central shrine of the temple ruins
Religion
AffiliationHinduism
DistrictAnantnag district
DeitySurya (Martand)
Location
LocationAnantnag
StateJammu and Kashmir
Country{India
Martand Sun Temple is located in Jammu and Kashmir
Martand Sun Temple
Location within Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir
Martand Sun Temple is located in India
Martand Sun Temple
Location within India
Geographic coordinates33°44′44″N 75°13′13″E / 33.74556°N 75.22028°E / 33.74556; 75.22028
Architecture
TypeAncient Indian
CreatorLalitaditya Muktapida
Completed8th century CE
Demolished15th century CE

The Martand Sun Temple is a Hindu temple located near the city of Anantnag in the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), India. It dates back to the eighth century CE and was dedicated to Surya, the chief solar deity in Hinduism; Surya is also known by the Sanskrit-language synonym Martand (मार्तण्ड, Mārtaṇḍa). The temple was destroyed by Sikandar Shah Miri.

History

Establishment

According to Kalhana, the Martand Sun Temple was commissioned by Lalitaditya Muktapida in the eighth century CE.

Destruction

According to Jonaraja (fl. 1430) as well as Hasan Ali, the temple was destroyed by Sikandar Shah Miri (1389-1413) in a zeal to Islamise the society under the advice of Sufi preacher Mir Muhammad Hamadani;[a] Jonaraja pinned the blame on his chief-counsel Suhabhatta, a Brahman neo-convert who was held to have manifested a reign of intense persecution for the local Hindus whereas Ali particularly affirmed Sikandar's own convictions in these aspects.[1][2][3]

Scholars caution against accepting these sources at face value — Jonaraja was appointed by Sikandar's son, who sought to bring back the Brahminical elite into the royal fold while later Muslim chroniclers had their motives to fit the past into an idealist tale of orthodox Islamic morality. According to Chitralekha Zutshi and Richard G. Salomon, Sikandar's policies were guided by realpolitik[4] and, like with the previous Hindu rulers, an attempt to secure political legitimacy by asserting state power over Brahmans and gaining access to wealth controlled by Brahminical institutions.[5] J. L. Bhan notes a stone sculpture—a four-armed Brahma, sculpted by son of a Buddhist Sanghapati and dedicated to Sikandar—to challenge simplistic notions of religious persecution.[6] Slaje disagrees about an absence of religious motivations but notes the aversion of Brahmin chroniclers to be, largely, the result of resistance to the gradual disintegration of caste-hierarchy under Muslim influence.[7]

Degradation

The ruins and the remnants of structure were further ruined by several earthquakes.[8]

Architecture

The Martand temple was built on top of a plateau from where one can view whole of the Kashmir Valley. From the ruins and related archaeological findings, it can be said it was an excellent specimen of Kashmiri architecture, which had blended the Gandharan, Gupta and Chinese forms of architecture.[9][10]

The temple has a colonnaded courtyard, with its primary shrine in its center and surrounded by 84 smaller shrines, stretching to be 220 feet long and 142 feet broad total and incorporating a smaller temple that was previously built.

antechamber of the temple proper depict other gods, such as Vishnu, and river goddesses, such as Ganga and Yamuna, in addition to the sun-god Surya.[12]

  • Martand Sun Temple
  • Ruins in c. 1870
    Ruins in c. 1870
  • Restored impression by J. Duguid (1870–73)
    Restored impression by J. Duguid (1870–73)
  • Panorama of the ruins in summer of 2011
    Panorama of the ruins in summer of 2011
  • Ruins in winter of 2012
    Ruins in winter of 2012
Inscriptions within the temple ruins
Temple ruins as seen from the entrance to the main temple structure
Temple ruins as seen from the entrance to the main temple structure

Conservation

The Archaeological Survey of India has declared the Martand Sun Temple as a site of national importance in Jammu and Kashmir.[13] The temple appears in the list of centrally protected monuments as Kartanda (Sun Temple).[14]

Details sign — ASI

In popular culture

Notes

  1. ^ Son of Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (1314-1384), a Sufi preacher of the Kubrawiya order who had migrated from Huttalàn (present-day Tajikistan) in the wake of Timurid invasions to Shibu'd-Din's Kashmir.

References

  1. ISBN 978-3869770888.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  2. ^ Pandit, Kashinath (1991). Baharistan-i-shahi: A chronicle of mediaeval Kashmir. Kolkata: Firma KLM Pvt. Ltd.
  3. S2CID 204477165
    .
  4. .
  5. ^ Zutshi, Chitralekha. "This book claims to expose the myths behind Kashmir's history. It exposes its own biases instead". Scroll.in. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  6. ^ Bhan, Jawahar Lal (2010). Kashmir Sculptures: An Iconographical Study of Brāhmanical Sculptures. Vol. 1. Delhi, India: Readworthy Publications. pp. 68–69.
  7. .
  8. ]
  9. .
  10. .
  11. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica: a new survey of universal knowledge: Volume 12, pp:965
  12. ^ Kak, Ram Chandra. "Ancient Monuments of Kashmir". koausa.org. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  13. ^ "Archaeological survey of India protected monuments". heritageofkashmir.org. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  14. ^ "Protected monuments in Jammu & Kashmir". asi.nic.in, Archaeological surey of india. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  15. ^ "Chala Bhi Aa Aaja Rasiya | Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi | Man Ki Aankhen 1970 Songs | Dharmendra". Retrieved 4 February 2020 – via www.youtube.com.
  16. ^ "Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi Shikwa To Nahin | Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar | Aandhi 1975 Songs". Retrieved 4 February 2020 – via www.youtube.com.
  17. ^ "Kashmiri Pandits seek ban on film Haider for misrepresenting ancient temple". The Indian Express. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2022.

External links

a)A History of Kashmir by Pandit Prithvi Nath Kaul Bamzai, pp. 140