TEXT: NOMITA DRALL PHOTOGRAPHS: HIMANSHU JOSHI
The bumpy track ran through lush green fields, the green acting as a balm against the hot sun. We had gotten onto this dirt track about 6 km south of Bhojpur. Our destination was the recently excavated temples of Ashapuri. But were we going in the right direction? We seemed to be heading straight into a dead end. Upon enquiring, we found that even the locals were not aware of the temples. Some of them pointed us to Ashapuri village which was a couple of kilometres down from the point you take the left on the dirt track.
A few more enquiries and we hit an old iron bridge. It wasn’t very wide – or didn’t seem so, at least – so we all got out of the SUV and decided to walk ahead till the ridge a 100 metres or so away. As we reached atop the ridge, in front of us lay a lake and surprise, it did have a lot of water – enough for two sets of fishing nets.
The ridge was the bund around the lake. There was a lock at one end, indicating that a system of water control and management was in place. On the far side, a group of women were washing clothes. And on the right at one edge of the lake, was the silhouette of a temple, at least what was left standing.
Now the adrenalin literally recharged us. We eagerly went forward. As we neared the temple edge, we were greeted by an ASI sign saying, Bhootnath Temple of Ashapuri Group of Temples.
The temples were built on a gradually rising hill. Those at the edge of the gentle waves lapping at them. A few dead fish kept them company. As you enter the complex, it is apparent that only the foundation of the temples survives. Everything else is lying on the ground.
Some sanctums of the temple are seen on the surviving platforms. Looking at the stone pieces scattered all around, it seems that some temples had flat roofs while some were built in nagara style with shikhars. The temple remains at Ashapuri testify to a flourishing centre during the Pratihara and Parmar periods (9th to the 12th centuries). These temples are small in size, just like the Bateshwar Group of Temples in near Gwalior. Even the setting on a gentle hill is similar.
While Bateshwar has tanks and baolis, Ashapuri is built overlooking the picturesque lake. It is also possible that just like at Bateshwar, these temples were destroyed by the same earthquake. As a result of recent excavations, hundreds of architectural and sculptural fragments have been laid out across the site, while many still lie in heaps.
As one walks through the tall grass, keeping an eye out for snakes, one is amazed at the amount of sculptural wealth just lying around. They seemed to be countless. There are imposing images of Brahma, Vishnu, Narasimha, Krishna, Shiva, Sadashiva, Uma-Maheshwar, Nataraja, Surya, Mahishasura Mardini, Ganesh, Kartikeya and apsaras. Many of them are still in very good condition, and you almost feel as you have discovered them yourself.
Though clearly that is not the case as each stone sculpture, small and large, has a number on it. The intact sculptures have been housed in a small museum at Ashapuri village. One hopes that work on restoration and reconstruction on the temples begins soon.
The lone structure standing and the few upright pillars one sees belong to the Bhootnath Temple, which was said to be the largest. The east-facing Bhootnath temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu, is built in the Bhumija style of architecture, a style developed here in Ashapuri.
The mandap with erect pillars is built of red sandstone. The shikhar had a five-bhumi (storey) composition. Fragments and sculptures only confirm that the temple was indeed grand and richly decorated.
What was this Bhumija style? A little research after this visit informed that in North India, from 7th to 10th centuries, nagara temples were of the Latina type. This form had temples with curved spire or shikhar with amalakas at the corners of their false storeys. Some examples of the Latina form are the temples at Bateshwar near Gwalior and Terahi in Shivpuri, both in Madhya Pradesh.
From the 10th century onwards, the Latina form evolved into the multi-spired shekhari or anekandaka mode of nagara in central and western India.
Shekhari is a group of miniature shrines embedded into the single spire of Latina temple. Shekhari temples are found at Asoda and Modhera in Gujarat and Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh. The nagara style, or ‘Tradition A’, can also be called Pratihar style.
It is in this context that Ashapuri is important. The Bhumija style did not evolve but came into being abruptly around the turn of 11th century here. The Parmars established Malwa as their centre for Bhumija temples called ‘Tradition B’. At Ashapuri, both styles coexisted, and it acted as the melting pot from which the Bhumija style emerged.
The new style had Deccan-Dravidian features, which meant that the artisans most probably came from the Deccan. Ashapuri in a sense was the Aihole of central India where experimentation led to a new style.
So, while elsewhere in Malwa temples were built in pure Bhumija style, here in Ashapuri, one can see a mix. The Shiv Temple at Bhojpur could have been the grand culmination of the Bhumija style but was left unfinished. The full historical and architectural significance of these two sites can only be understood if they are considered together.
When the enormous dam was built at Bhojpur, and construction of the gigantic temple started on the bare rocks alongside, Ashapuri would have been the major urban settlement nearby. Stylistic peculiarities in the Ashapuri remains show that it was from here that the masons must have come to build Bhojpur Temple.
The Bhumija style is distinguished by a central projection tapering towards the top on each of the four faces. The quadrants formed are filled with miniature spires, in horizontal and vertical rows, all the way to the top. The Udayeshwar Mahadev Temple in Vidisha is the best example of the Bhumija style.
The Ashapuri temples demonstrate the thinking in the canon Samaranganasutradhara written by the greatest Parmar, King Bhoj I, who probably was the benefactor of Ashapuri.
Ashapuri is, thus, a key site for understanding the architectural history of central India in the medieval period. It also represents a rare challenge as to how to protect, and how to give due value and meaning, to the vestiges of an important centre of Indian temple art.
It is hoped that Ashapuri regains its lost glory and attains its rightful place on the tourism map of Madhya Pradesh. Then the itinerary will read Bhimbetka, Ashapuri and Bhojpur.
All of us explored to our heart’s content. But the ravaged splendour and the quiet of a once busy temple centre left us all a bit subdued. Reluctantly, we left the complex and returned along the bund of the lake and the Ashapuri Temples receded into the background.
As we hit the dirt track, I wondered at India’s rich heritage and how many other unknown heritage troves must be hidden out there.
