THE BHOJPUR TEMPLE-AN ANCIENT MYSTERY OF ARCHITECTURAL CONSTRUCTION

Abstract

Shavisim is considered an important sect in Hinduism. Lord shiva is widely worshipped all over india. With these aspect in mind there was built a temple by the king of Bhopal during 11^th century –‘The Bhojpur temple’. The Bhojpur temple lies amidst the Bhojpur village of Raisen district, which lies 32 km from Bhopal, in Madhya Pradesh, India. The temple is a gigantic shrine with lord Shiva as the supreme deity. The temple was built by Raja Bhoj during the 11th century and is famous for the largest monolith shivlinga. The temple is widely known as the unfinished Hindu temple. It houses a giant idol of ‘shivling’, having an overall height exceeding 26 ft. The scale of the temple still remains a wonder to its observers and leaves them awe struck. The temple lies in harmony with the surrounding nature which adds to the beauty of the temple. It was erected by the King near the Betwa River, a tributary of the Yamuna. On one side, it was erected on a mound in front of a water reservoir produced by a massive dam, and on the other side, Betwa. The carving of the temple complex is indeed a remarkable one.