Narayanpur is a village in the BalodaBazar-Bhatpara district of Chhattisgarh. It is situated on the eastern bank of the River Mahanadi. J D Beglar first described the town’s antiquities in 1874. He mentions the main temple facing east, consisting of a garbhagrha and mandapa. The mandapa was initially open on the side but later covered with brickwork. He suggests that the temple was dedicated to Shiva because of the images of Shiva, Ganesha, and Parvati on the lintel of the garbhagrha doorway. For the existence of the Vaishnava statues, Cunningham opines that those probably belong to some Vaishnava temple that had been lost due to changes in the course of the river.1 G C Chandra visited in 1933-34 and mentioned the temple was in a neglected condition requiring urgent repair. The issue was addressed to the local authorities. Chandra also mentions the temple as Shiva temple.2 A detailed description of the temple first appears in 1984 in the Ph.D. thesis of S N Manwani.3 Later, Mangalanand Jha also discusses this temple in detail in his work on the temples of Dakshina Kosala.4
Vishnu Temple — The complex has two temples, a Vishnu temple and a Surya temple. The placement of these two temples suggests that the whole complex was panchayatana (quincunx), designed with one central temple surrounded by four temples at four corners. Not all have survived except for the central and one corner temple. The main central temple faces east and consists of a garbhagrha, antarala, and mandapa. The temple stands on a low jagati. The space in front of the mandapa suggests a mukha–mandapa once in the front.
The mandapa is semi-open on its three sides. Beglar says the open space was filled up with brickwork during his visit. This has been removed, and the mandapa has been returned to its original condition. Four central pillars inside the mandapa support its ceiling. There are also pillars raised over the half-walls along the periphery of the mandapa that provide extra support for the ceiling. The garbhagrha doorway follows a tri-shakha pattern and is exquisitely decorated in the typical Kalachuri style. Without their mounts, river goddesses are present at the base of the jambs. Dvarapalas, Shiva, and Harihara on different jambs accompany them. The sculptural panels on the innermost shakha are mutilated. From the outlines, these were occupied by various Vishnu avatars, i.e., Varaha and Narasimha. The lalata-bimba has Vaishnavi, while the lintel terminals have Ganesha on the left and Sarasvati on the right. The Navagrhas occupy the recessed space. Vishnu riding over Garuda occupies the central space in the architrave above the lintel. A Shivalinga is installed inside the garbhagrha, which is a later addition. An interesting feature of its garbhagrha is its rear wall pilasters, decorated with sculptural panels. Each pilaster has two panels depicting Brahmani, Gaja-Lakshmi, and two unidentified goddesses.
The vertical elevation of the vimana consists of multiple moldings. The bottom two moldings are decorated with jewel and floral designs. Above it is a khura, kumuda followed by three tharas: hamsha-thara, hathi-thara, and simha-thara. The jangha is divided into two tiers separated by a bandhana molding. Jangha follows pancha-ratha plan. Pillared niches are on the bhadra-ratha, and sculptures adorn the karna and partiratha. Apsaras, musicians, and dancers occupy the recessed spaces. Varaha and Balarama occupy the bhadra niches in the south, Narasimha and Buddha in the west, and Vamana and Kalki occupy the bhadra niches in the north.
Kapili also has two tiers like the jangha. The niches in the northern Kapil have Surya and Ishana (?) and Rama and Vishnu in the southern wall. Mandapa follows the adhishthana design of Vimana except for the thara moldings. The space of the thara moldings is taken up by a frieze of sculptural panels depicting dancers, musicians, romantic couples, and some explicit sexual scenes. A large pillared niche punctures the adhishthana in the middle. An image of Uma-Maheshvara is in the southern niche, while the northern niche is empty.
The shikhara has survived with all its components. It is composed of ten bhumis (tiers), each demarcated by a bhumi-amalaka on its karna-ratha. The bhadra on the north, west, and south has a urushringa (mini-shrine). Sukanasika in the east repeats the moldings of the shikhara. In the front is a square window with sculptural panels on either side. These panels have dancers and romantic couples. The top of the sukanasika is of samvarana style. The mandapa has no shikhara but a flat roof.
Surya Temple – This temple faces west. The temple only has a garbhagrha and stands in the southeast corner of the above temple. This temple might be part of the large panchayatana (quincunx) complex, with the principal Shiva Temple in the center and one temple on each corner. The doorway is a trishakha (three jambs) design. At the bottom of the jambs are the River Goddesses with dvarapalas. Mangalanand Jha opines that the image next to the goddesses is not of dvarapalas but of Varuna. He mentions two-armed Varuna, which are generally shown next to the River Goddesses, as specified in various texts. However, the image is not two-armed but four-armed.5 Surya is present on the lalata-bimba and in niches on the terminals. Large spoked wheels occupy the recessed space, probably representing the Sun. Jangha follows the pancha-ratha pattern and has two tiers. Niches are only provided on the bhadra-ratha; the rest have triangular designs. All the niches except for the lower niche in the east are vacant. The lower bhadra niche in the east has an image of Surya.
1 Beglar, J D (1878). Report of a Tour in Bundelkhand and Malwa, 1871-72 and in the Central Provinces, 1873-74, volume VII. Superintendent of Government Printing. Calcutta. pp. 193-196
2 Annual Reports of the Archaeological Survey of India for the Years 1930-31, 1931-32, 1932-33, & 1933-34. p. 141
3 Manwani, S N (1984). Temple Art of the Kalachuris of Ratanpur, Ph.D. thesis submitted to Dr. Harsingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar. pp. 124-128
4 झा, मंगलानन्द (2008). दक्षिण कोसल के कलचुरी कालीन मंदिर. संचालनालय संस्कृति एवं पुरातत्त्व विभाग. रायपुर. pp. 140-149
5 झा, मंगलानन्द (2008). दक्षिण कोसल के कलचुरी कालीन मंदिर. संचालनालय संस्कृति एवं पुरातत्त्व विभाग. रायपुर. p. 147
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.