Nohta is situated on the eastern banks of the Sunar River in the Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh. The river is named Sunar on Google Maps; however, the district gazetteer lists the river as Bearma (or the present Vyrama).1 In fact, River Vyrama and Sunar are two names of the same river, and it is a tributary of the Ken River. A little away from Nohta town is the junction of the rivers Sunar and Guraiya, which lends the town its sanctity as a sangam. The antiquities of the town were first reported by Henry Cousens, who visited in December 1893. He says that Nohta, at one time, must have been a place of importance, judging from the number of sites of old temples which are scattered in and around the village, and the great quantities of sculptured slabs, pillars, doorways, and images that are now found built promiscuously into the walls of houses of the village. The only old temple standing during his time was a Shiva temple lying about half a mile south of the village. It was in a very ruinous condition, the outer shell of the walls of the shrine having for the most part fallen together with its shikhara and roof of sabha-mandapa. Fortunately, most of the fallen parts were piled up next to where they fell.2 Cousens immediately started the conservation works, and when J F Blakiston paid a visit in February 1913, the temple was in very excellent order.3 He mentions that the temple is rebuilt to a great extent owing to its ruinous condition; however, the work has been very well done, and anyone knowing that it has been dismantled would have supposed that it was always in its present state. He dates the temple to the twelfth century CE. The temple has been featured in various compendia on Indian temples, Kalachuri period temples, and the temples of the Damoh region.4,5,6,7,8 However, all these various studies have not improved upon the information we already got from the previous explorations.
Nohaleshwar Temple – The temple faces west and is built over a platform about 1.26 m high. The temple consists of a rectangular garbha-grha (sanctum), antarala (vestibule), ranga-mandapa (hall), and a mukha-mandapa (porch). The vimana is pancha-ratha in plan and is composed of vedibandha, jangha, varandika, and shikhara. The vedibandha has the usual moldings of khura, kumbha, kumuda, etc. On the kumbha molding, over each ratha, a niche is provided; the niche over bhadra is larger than the others. The jangha has two registers of niches; the lower register has larger images than the upper register. Images are placed over all the rathas, while the recesses are decorated with gaja-shardula-vyala motifs. The shikhara is a reconstruction made from fallen pieces and debris, and thus it has various incoherent elements in its composition.
The temple’s outer walls are decorated with various images. The lower register of images over the jangha has Shiva-Vinadhara in the north, Shiva-Andhakantaka in the east, and Shiva-Nataraja in the north on bhadra niches. The upper register on jangha has Surya in the east and Shiva-Parvati in the south. Ashta-dikpalas are occupying their respective positions over the lower register of the jangha at karna-rathas. The rest of the niches and places have been occupied by divine couples, apsaras, dancers, and other divinities. The niches of the kapili area have Parvati in the north and Chamunda and Shiva-Gajantaka in the south. Eight projecting niches over the vedibandha of the ranga-mandapa are occupied by various matrikas from the Sapta-Matrika group.
The entrance doorway of the ranga-mandapa is highly ornate. It is composed of five shakhas (bands). At the base of the door-jambs are the river goddesses, Ganga over a makara on the right and Yamuna over a tortoise on the left, with attendants and Shaiva dvarapalas. The lintel has two horizontal friezes. The lower frieze depicts Nataraja, with nava-grhas on either side. The above frieze features Shiva in the middle, with Brahma and Vishnu at the ends. In between are distributed six male divinities, three on each side. The ceiling of the mukha-mandapa features a lotus carved into it. The ranga-mandapa is rectangular in plan and supported by sixteen pillars, four central and twelve peripheral, divided into nine compartments. The central four pillars have bhara-vahakas (weight bearers) above the capital; the rest of the pillars are devoid of this element.
The antarala doorway is similarly ornate as the ranga-mandapa. It is composed of five shakhas (bands). The lintel has two friezes of images. The upper lintel has Shiva seated over a lotus in the middle with Brahma and Vishnu, both seated over a lotus, at the terminals. In between them, six male divinities are distributed, three on either side of Shiva. The lower lintel has Shiva-Nataraja in the latala-bimba and Brahma standing with Savitri and Vishnu standing with Lakshmi at the terminals. In between them are distributed nava-grahas. At the base of the door-jamb are the river goddesses, Ganga and Yamuna, standing with their attendants. At the extreme jamb, Shaiva dvarapalas stand. A shivalinga is installed inside the garbha-grha.
Asharfilal Pathak takes this temple as the finest example of the architecture promoted by Queen Nohla of Kalchuri King Yuvaraja-deva I (915-945 CE).9 Krishna Deva dates to the same period, 950-960 CE; however, he is silent on its founders, as there is no epigraphical evidence for the same.10 During 950-960, Nohta would have been under the Kalachuri king Lakshmana-raja II (945-970 CE), the successor of King Yuvaraja-deva I.
Various loose sculptures have been discovered at Nohta; a few are placed inside a ruined Jain temple in the town, a few have been removed to other places and museums, and many have been utilized by the residents in the construction of their houses. The images and materials used by the residents in constructing their houses were observed and noted by Henry Cousens in 1893 during his first visit. As many images belong to the Jain religion, Nohta would have been an important Jain pilgrimage center in the past. An exquisitely carved Varaha image from Nohta has been installed at Phutera Tank in Damoh.11
1 Shrivastav, P N (1974). Madhya Pradesh District Gazetteers – Damoh. District Gazetteer Department. Bhopal. p. 385
2 Archaeology, Progress Report of the Archaeology Survey of Western India for the months May 1893 to April 1894. p. 6
3 Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of India, Eastern Circle, for 1912-13. pp. 44-45
4 पाठक, अशर्फीलाल (1981). दमोह जिला का ऐतिहासिक पुरातत्त्व, Ph.D. thesis (unpublished) submitted to Sagar University.
5 Deva, Krishna (1995). Temples of India. Aryan Books International. Delhi. ISBN 817305052X. pp. 161-162
6 सोनी, संजय बाबू (2002). दमोह जिले का पुरातत्त्व, Ph.D. thesis (unpublished) submitted to the Dr. Harisingh Gour University, Sagar.
7 Singh, Amrendra Kumar (2002). Temples of the Kalachuri Period. Pratibha Prakashan. Delhi. ISBN 8177020544. pp. 66-67
8 पाण्डेय, उमेश चंद्र (2019). दमोह जिले का प्राचीन स्थापत्य एवं मूर्तिशिल्प, Ph.D. thesis (unpublished) submitted to the Dr. Harisingh Gour University, Sagar.
9 पाठक, अशर्फीलाल (1981). दमोह जिला का ऐतिहासिक पुरातत्त्व, Ph.D. thesis (unpublished) submitted to the Sagar University. p. 100
10 Deva, Krishna (1995). Temples of India. Aryan Books International. Delhi. ISBN 817305052X. p. 162
11 Shrivastav, P N (1974). Madhya Pradesh District Gazetteers – Damoh. District Gazetteer Department. Bhopal. p. 386
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. Some of the photos above are in the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain, from the collection released by the Tapesh Yadav Foundation for Indian Heritage.