Avantisvamin Temple, Awantipora
by Chander M. Bhat
Awantipora (Vuumtopur in Kashmiri) is a place,
about 30 km from Srinagar on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway. The place is
famous not only as a ancient capital city of Avantipora founded by Rajaj
Avantivarman, but also for its two imposing temples, now in ruins, built by him.
The ruins of temples constructed by
Lalitaditya, the Brahmin emperor of
Kashmir, and King
Awantivarman are located in
Awantipora. The temples are located at
33°55′24″N 75°00′46″E / 33.9232602°N
75.012846°E / 33.9232602; 75.012846
and
33°55′41″N 75°00′16″E / 33.9279606°N
75.0045311°E / 33.9279606; 75.0045311.
Main Entrance
This is an historic temple built by Awanti Warman from whom the place got its
name as Awantipora. The place is usually misrecognized by the people saying
Pandavas place because the material used in building this place is usually
panadava stones. That's why people misrecognize it. But all its history is
written inside it. It is said that this temple has gone almost 20 feet deep
under the earth and that only its top side is visible.
One of these temples, Avantisvamin, a small one, was dedicated to Lord Vishnu,
before Avantivarman’s accession to the throne and the second one, Avantesvara, a
larger one, to Lord Shiva, after his accession to the throne. The original
grandeur of these great temples has been lost and all that remains now are the
architectural fragments strewn at their places of origin on the left side of
Srinagar-Jammu road. Avantisvamin comes just before Awantipora on the bank of
Vitasta and Avantesvara a few hundred metres away at village Jaubror, in
Avantipora proper. Another ancient temple built by Avantisvamin was Sheer Mutt,
located 6 km from Awantipora. Avantisvamin, one of the better preserved temples
of the two, has an edifice, which comprised a colonnaded per style enclosing a
paved courtyard 174 feet by 148 feet, in the centre of which is the main shrine,
built on a double base with four small shrines at four corners. The centre
shrine is built on double bases, the only decoration of which is a torus molding
a cyma recta cornice. The base is intact, but the sanctum, 33 feet square
externally, has almost disappeared. Avantesvara is situated in courtyard
columns, but without any recesses behind. The gateway is in the middle of the
wall and is divided into two chambers by a cross wall. The base on which the
shrine in the centre of the courtyard stands is 57 feet and 10 feet high with
stairs, 28 feet wide, on all the four sides, supported on either side by flank
wall, 17 feet in length. The remains of these two temples represent finest
examples of architecture of the times. One can see the gateways, standing in
both the temples, the colonnade of the smaller temple and the semi-attached
pillars of the arched recesses with elaborate carvings. Sikander Butshikan
destroyed these magnificent temples. According to Lawrence, the complete ruin of
Avantipora temples could have been affected by use of gunpowder by bigoted
Sikander, whose idol breaking zeal procured him the tile of But-Shikan or
"Iconoclast".
Base of the Main Temple
Notes and References:
-
Place Names
in Kashmir by B.K.raina and S.L.Sadhu, pulbished by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,
Mumbai and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhio, 2000
-
Encyclopedia: Kashmiri
Pandit: Culture and Heritage by C.L.Kaul published by Ansh Publication, 2009
Image Gallery:
http://ikashmir.net/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=214
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