Maharnipur is a village in the Surguja district of Chhattisgarh. Although otherwise nondescript, it is known among scholar circles for its Kalachuri-period temple.
Deur Temple – This temple faces east and has survived with its garbhagrha and partial shikhara. The vimana follows the pancha-ratha pattern with five offsets. A large niche with a chajja (canopy) is provided on the bhadra-ratha. Niches are also present on the karna-ratha. All the niches are empty at present. The doorway has a tri-shakha (bands) design. The innermost shakha has flower bud decoration, the middle shakha has foliage designs, and the outermost shakha has leaf designs. Ganesha is present on the lalata-bimba on the lintel and the architrave above the lintel. The temple was probably dedicated to Shiva. It was constructed during the 11th-12th century CE.1
1 Verma, Kamta Prasad (2002). बस्तर क्षेत्र के स्थापत्य का अध्ययन (Bastra Kshetra ke Sthapatya ka Addhyayan), Ph. D. thesis submitted to Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur. p. 67
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.