Dhobni is a village in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh. It is located near Damakheda, a famous pilgrimage spot of the Kabir Panthis. This otherwise nondescript village is renowned among scholars for its lone brick temple, which exhibits advanced stellar architecture. The town came to attention in the late 1970s when the temple was discovered. Since then, it has appeared in various studies. The newest study is from Pratap Kumar Das, who has described the temple in every detail.1
Chitawari Devi Temple: The temple was discovered in the late 1970s and first mentioned by Statdtner in 1981.2 Initially dedicated to Shiva, it was later reappropriated for a local goddess. The temple faces west and stands on a low jagati. It is built in red sandstone till its jangha, and the shikara is constructed of burnt brick. The temple has survived with its garbhagrha. It was once equipped with an antarala and a mandapa in the front. It follows an accurate pancha-ratha stellate plan with all five offsets at oblique angles. Its vertical elevation consists of adhishthana, jangha, barabda, shikhara, and mastaka. The adhishthana comprises six mouldings, starting from the bottom with a khura, kumbha, kalasha with leaf decoration, antarapatta, kapota with chaitya motifs, and pattika.
The karna-ratha at corners has the false-window design of six windows in a single frame. The lattice design is only executed in the southern karna-rathas. However, only four of the six windows are carved with lattice design; the remaining two are incomplete. A lady emerging from a door is carved in one of the window frames. On the side, pilasters are carved two flying Gandharvas. The pratirathas have pilasters with flying vidhyadharas carved over the shaft. The bhadra has a bi-facial surface. Both these surfaces have chaitya-motif with a lion at its apex. A simha-vyala is seated above the chaitya motif. The chaitya is supported by two bharavahakas (weight bearers). Pendant designs decorate the inside of the chaitya, but the decoration pattern differs on the northern and the southern sides. The chaitya of the kapali or antarala has images of deities inside. On the north is probably Lakulisa, and on the south is an unidentified image. An elephant with a rider crowns these chaityas instead of a lion. Above the elephant is a simha-vyala.
The baranda has a kapota moulding with chaitya motifs containing grasamukhas. The shikhara had four bhumis (stories), but only three have survived in some state of preservation. Each bhumi is demarcated with bhumi-amalaka at the bhadra and karna. Each face of the shikhara carries large chaitya motifs. The temple is primarily dated by its style and architecture. Stadtner, who discovered this temple, dates it to the 9th-10th century CE because of its advanced stellate plan.3 Meister studies this temple in his study of stellate temples of the region, and he differs from Stadtner in its dating. He favours the 7th or early 8th century CE.4 Krishna Deva assigns the temple to 700-725 CE.5 Patnaik follows Stadtner in dating.6
1 Patnaik, Jeeban Kumar (1998). Temples of South Kosala: (6th century A.D. – 11th century A.D.) A Case Study of Stellate Temples, Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Sambalpur University, Sambalpur. pp.130-137
2 Stadtner, Donald M (1981). Ancient Kosala and the Stellate Plan, published in Williams, J G (ed.). Kaladarsana. American Institute of Indian Studies. pp. 137-145
3 Stadtner, Donald M (1981). Ancient Kosala and the Stellate Plan, published in Williams, J G (ed.). Kaladarsana. American Institute of Indian Studies. pp. 137-145
4 Meister, M W (1984). Siva’s fort in Central India: Temples in Dakshina Kosala and their Daemonic plan published in Discourses of Siva, Bombay, p. 141, fn 21
5 Dev, Krishna (1985). Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture, North India, Foundations of North Indian Style, vol. II, part 1. American Institute of Indian Studies. New Delhi. pp. 246-249
6 Patnaik, Jeeban Kumar (1998). Temples of South Kosala: (6th century A.D. – 11th century A.D.) A Case Study of Stellate Temples, Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Sambalpur University, Sambalpur. p. 137
Acknowledgement: Some of the photos above are in CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain from the collection released by the Tapesh Yadav Foundation for Indian Heritage.