There are many ancient temples in India, some are preserved and some are ruined but these temples tell the glorious history of India and show the advanced architecture of the medieval period.
1. Kandariya Mahadeva
Kandariya
Mahadeva largest temple in Khajuraho group
of temples is built during the
reign of Vidyadhara (1003-1035 CE) king of Chandela dynasty located in Khajuraho, Madhypradesh state India. It is dedicated to Vaikuntha
Vishnu. Its UNISCO world heritage site. Kandariya Mahadeva temple is unique example of temples conserved from the medieval era in
India.
The temple structural design is a grouping of porches and towers which ends in a shikhara, a feature which was common from the 10th century onwards in the temples of Central India. The temple is founded on a massive plinth of 4 metres, This temple is characteristically built over a plan of 31 metres in length and 20 metres in width with the main tower elevated to a height of 31 metres , that why is called the "largest and grandest temple of Khajuraho". Khajuraho temple site had 85 temples by the 12th century, spread over 20 square kilometers. Of these, only about 25 temples have survived, spread over six square kilometers. In the interior halls of the temple and on its exterior faces there are elaborately carved sculptures of gods and goddesses, musicians and apsaras or nymphs, Erotic sculptures are fitted all round which are a major attraction amongst peoples. The overall temples architecture and history make it’s a must visit place in India.
2. Kailasa
temple
The Kailasa temple is the largest of the rock-cut Hindu
temples at the Ellora Caves, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. Its construction is generally attributed
to the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I (756-773
CE), based on two epigraphs that link the temple to "Krishnaraja".
A megalith carved from a rock
cliff face, it is considered one of the most remarkable cave temples in the world because of its size, architecture and
sculptural treatment, and the climax of the rock-cut phase of Indian
architecture. The Kailasa Temple is prominent
for its vertical excavation carvers started at the top of the
original rock and excavated downward. The traditional methods were rigidly
followed by the master architect which could not have been achieved by
excavating from the front. The temples is one of the popular sites
amongst tourist.
3. Bhuleshwar
Temple
Bhuleshwar is a Hindu temple of Shiva, located 45 kilometers from Pune and 10 km from Pune Solapur highway from Yawat in Maharashtra, India. The temple is placed on a hill and was constructed in the 8th century. History of who really built this temples is still unresolved. Reconstruction of temple was done by Yadava Rulers during the period of 1230 AD. There are classical carvings on the walls. It has been declared as a protected monument. The sculptures on exterior surface of temples are shows some moments of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Several beautiful sculptures are destroyed by Muslim invaders.
4. Virupaksha
Temple
Virupaksha Temple its shiv temple located in Hampi in the Vijayanagara
district of Karnataka
state, India. It is part of the Assemblage of
Monuments at Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The
temple's history is uninterrupted from about the 7th century. The
Virupaksha-Pampa sanctuary existed well before the Vijayanagara capital was
located here. Inscriptions referring to Shiva temple date back to the 9th and
10th centuries. Evidence specifies there were reconstructions made to
the temple in the late Chalukyan and Hoysala ages,
however most of the temple buildings are credited to the Vijayanagar period.
The gigantic temple building was built by Lakkana Dandesha, a chieftain under
the ruler Deva Raya II of the Vijayanagara Empire.
5. Brihadisvara
temple
Brihadisvara Temple devoted
to lord Shiva Built by Chola emperor Raja
raja I between 1003 and 1010 CE, the temple is a part of the UNESCO World
Heritage Site, located on the south bank of the Cauvery River
in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. It’s one the biggest Hindu
temple. Temple is best example of chola architecture. The temple is dedicated
to Shiva in the form of a huge linga. It is 8.7m high, occupying
two storeys of the sanctum. The shikhara, a
cupolic dome, is octagonal and rests on a single block of granite, weighing 80
tons. It is one of the largest monolithic
linga sculptures in India. Recently one the most visited place in India.
Sas-Bahu
temple
Sas-Bahu Temple dedicated
to lord Vishnu is an 11th-century twin temple in Gwalior, Madhya
Pradesh, India in the Gwalior Fort. It was built in 1093 by King
Mahipala of the Kachchhapaghata dynasty. The temple's tower
and sanctum has been destroyed by Muslim invaders, but its architecture and broken
carvings can still be treasured from the ruins. The triple storey
plan with a cruciform foundation and balconies suggests that it had a North
Indian Bhumija style architecture. The entire temple is
covered with carvings, notably 4 idols of Brahma, Vishnu and Sarasvati above its entrance door. The pillar carvings
show Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Shaktism related carvings. The
larger temple ornamentation covers all the external walls and all surviving inner
surfaces.
7. Konark temple
World famous Konark Sun Temple Dedicated to the Hindu Sun God Surya is a 13th-century CE UNESCO world heritage site located around 35 kilometers northeast of Puri on the coastline of Odisha state, India. Konark, also referred to in Indian texts by the name Kainapara, was a significant trading port by the early centuries of the Common Era. The current Konark temple dates to the 13th century, though evidence suggests that a sun temple was built in the Konark area by at least the 9th century. The existing temple is constructed by Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, r. 1238–1264 CE. It is one of the few Hindu temples whose development and construction records written in Sanskrit in the Odia script have been preserved in the form of palm leaf manuscripts that were discovered in a village in the 1960s and subsequently translated. The great temple ruined only smaller mandapa is the structure that survives; the great temple collapsed sometime in the late 16th century or after. The original temple must originally have stood to a height of some 225 feet, but only parts of its walls and decorative moldings remain.
8. Sun
temple Modhera
Sun Temple of Modhera is a Hindu temple devoted to the lord Surya located at Modhera village of Mehsana district, Gujarat, India. It was built by king Bhima I of the Chalukya dynasty in between 1026-27 CE. The temple complex is built in Chalukya style of architecture. The temple complex has three axially aligned components; the shrine proper in a hall, the outer or assembly hall and a sacred reservoir. The outer walls of the shrine is highly decorated. The base and walls of the shrine and hall are divided into several stretches with unique carvings. The reservoir has steps to reach the bottom and numerous small shrines.
9. Hoysaleswara temple
Hoysaleswara
temple dedicated to lord shive,
the largest monument in Halebidu, a town in the Karnataka state, India. The temple was built on the banks of a
large man-made lake, and sponsored by King Vishnuvardhana of the Hoysala Empire. Its construction started around 1121 CE and was
complete in 1160 CE. The Hoysaleswara temple is a twin-temple dedicated
to Hoysaleswara and Santaleswara Shiva lingas, termed after the masculine and
feminine sides, both equivalent and combined at their transept. The
temple outer walls is intricately carved. Its lowest layers consist of bands
with friezes that consist of elephants, lions, scrolls with nature and
miniature dancers, horses, and scrolls, scenes from Hindu texts, mythical beasts and swans. The friezes and wall images on
the outer wall predominantly narrate the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata Puranas, the other
major Shaiva and Vaishnava Puranas.
10. Lingaraja temple
Lingaraja Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva located in
Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. It’s one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneswar and a
major tourist attraction in the state. The temple in its present form dates
back to the last decade of the eleventh century. There is evidence that part of
the temple was built during the sixth century CE as mentioned in some of the
seventh-century Sanskrit texts. The Lingaraja temple is the largest temple in
Bhubaneswar. James Fergusson, a noted critic and historian rated the temple as
"one of the finest examples of purely Hindu temple in India".
Fergusson believes that the temple might have been initiated by Lalat Indu
Keshari who reigned from 615 to 657 CE. The Assembly hall, sanctum and temple tower
were built during the eleventh century, while the Hall of offering was built
during the twelfth century. The natamandira was built by the wife of Salini
between 1099 and 1104 CE. Everyone know the Jagannath temple but without
visiting Lingaraja temple tour of Odisha is incomplete
10.