Mandi Bamora is a town in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh. It is about 10 km from Eran, a famous Gupta period site. Being situated in the central heartland of India, the town would have witnessed all relevant political upheavals from the early ancient period till the very end of British rule. Though various famous archaeological sites surround the city, it had no ancient and early medieval ruins till recent explorations. The recent findings of temple ruins suggest that the temple construction activities started sometime in the 6th century CE and continued till the 11th century CE.1 The oldest standing temple in the town can be dated to the Paramara period of the early 10th century CE. Little has been written about the town and its temples in scholarly circles except for a few brief articles.
Hajariya Mahadev Temple – The temple faces east and consists of a mandapa, antarala and a garbhagrha. The mandapa and antarala have only survived with their pillars; the ceiling has long fallen. The mandapa probably had subsidiary shrines attached to its north and south walls. The temple is locally known as Hajariya Mahadev because of a shahasralinga (a large linga with a thousand small lingas carved on its shaft) installed inside its garbhagrha. However, the temple was probably dedicated to Vishnu, evident from an image of Vishnu on its garbhagrha door lintel.
The garbhagrha doorway has four shakhas (jambs). The innermost shakha has diamond motifs. The next shakha has a narrow frieze of dancers. The third shakha has sculptural panels, three on each side. These panels have amorous couples. The outermost shakha has foliage roundels. The lalatabimba has a seated Vishnu in a large niche. The lintel terminal niches have Brahma and Shiva. The recessed space between the niches has navagrhas distributed on either side. A large architrave above the lintel has five niches alternating with recesses. These niches have various images of Vishnu and Lakshmi. Based on the sculptural style and the architecture, the temple may be dated to the early 10th century CE of the Paramara period.
1 क्षोत्रिय, अलोक एवं चढ़ार, मोहन लाल (2011). मढ़-बामोरा के नव-ज्ञात मंदिर के ध्वंशावेशों का अध्ययन, published in Kosala-Journal of the Directorate of Culture & Archaeology, vol. 4. p. 2
Acknowledgment: 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.