The temples discussed in this article are in three adjoining villages: Panchdhar, Saria, and Maharajpur. All three villages are in the Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh. As the past accounts of these temples refer to Pujeripali (or Pujaripali) village, we keep the same convention to avoid confusion. Pujeripali village also adjoins the three villages mentioned above.
J D Beglar was the first modern scholar to report on the town’s antiquities. He paid a visit in 1875. He mentions that the Pajdhar village had one ruined brick temple of Mahadeo and a stone temple known as Rani’s Jhula. Rani’s Jhula consists of architraves supported by four pillars. These pillars were probably the remains of a large mandapa attached to a temple. The pillars were decorated with giant statues over their faces. One ruined brick temple in Pujaripali was probably dedicated to Jains as several broken Jain images were lying around it. Another temple had a broken statue known as Bura Seni. He was told that a jogi came there to live. He learned from inscriptions that the statue had secret treasures in its stomach. One fine day, Jogi disappeared, and people found the broken statue. Traditions ascribed this temple to Raja Dama Ghos, and his queen’s name was Deimati. She is the same queen who built a tank at Pajdhar and Rani’s Jhula. The ancient name of the village was Sakras Nagar. Beglar deposited the inscription mentioned above in the Sambalpur Museum.1 Alexander Cunningham visited the town in 1881-82. He was told that one hundred and twenty temples once stood at Pujaripali. However, he only found three temples, two standing and one in ruins. The temple in ruins was known as Rani’s palace. The two standing temples were constructed in brick and dedicated to Shiva. However, Jagannatha’s wooden idol was placed in one temple.2 D R Bhandarkar visited and described the place in 1903-04.3 A H Longhurst visited the town in 1909-10. He says the two brick temples were originally standing on raised platforms with cell foundations. These temples originally had brick porches with stone doorways. Both temples show signs of being covered with a thin layer of plaster once.4 Though the temples had appeared in various studies, Minj described them in detail for the first time.5
Kewatin Temple – The temple is known as Kewatin temple after some fisher-woman. It faces east and consists of a square garbhagrha, antarala, and a mukha-mandapa. The mukha-mandapa is a modern construction. The temple is built in brick except for its doorframe.
The temple vimana follows the pancha-ratha pattern. The adhishthana has multiple mouldings comprised of khura, kumbha, kalasha, antarapatta, and kapota. Chandrasala motifs are carved on the kumbha moulding, and the kalasha is decorated with leaf motifs. The jangha is divided into two tiers separated by a bandhana moulding. The lower tier has a deep niche in the bhadra-ratha, unfinished chandrashala motifs on the karna-ratha, and rudimentary rectangular reliefs on the prati-rathas. The upper tier has irregular designs over the rathas; in a few places, we see niches and, in other areas, rudimentary designs.
The latina nagara style shikhara consists of six bhumis (tiers). A bhumi-amalaka demarcates each bhumi. Bharvahakas are placed above the varanda on the karna-rathas. The shikhara is influenced by the Odishan temples. The Odisha border is not very far from the village, so the influence of the Kalinga region is not surprising.
Gopala Temple in Borrahasini Complex – The temple stands inside the Borrahasini complex. This is a modern complex built of ancient architectural fragments. It houses various statues and sculptures discovered in the village. The temple is known as Gopal temple because of an inscription found here. The inscription mentions Gopaladeva. The temple is despairing and has lost much of its components compared to a photo by Longhurst in 1909. Surprisingly, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) or the Chhattisgarh State Archaeology Department does not protect the temple. The western and northern walls are entirely lost. The eastern wall has survived partially. The temple faces east and has a doorway of good craftsmanship. Large-sized images of the river goddesses are carved at the jambs of the entrance. Above these images are two sculptural panels; one depicts Kesi-vadha, Krishna slaying horse Kesi, and another depicts Putana-vadha, Krishna sucking Putana. The temple was dedicated to Vishnu. The stone inscription from the temple mentions King Gopala’s propitiation of various matrkas and yoginis to attain favours in battles. There are many instances where we find the Kalachuri kings involved in the propitiation of the yoginis or matrkas to achieve success in their endeavours. The Yogini temple at Bhedaghat is a gleaming example of such a case.
Inscription –
- Pujaripali Stone Inscription of Gopaladeva6 – This inscription was discovered by Henry Cousens in 1904. The inscription is now in the Raipur Museum. It is written in the Nagari alphabet and the Sanskrit language. The inscription starts with a mention of Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshvara. The following few verses describe a few goddesses who are variously referred to as Vaishnavi, Varahi, Narasimhi, Aindri, Chamunda, Tvarita, Tripura, Maricha, Jaya, Tara, Vindhyavasini, Totala, Kamakshi, Sarasvati and so forth. The goddesses were pleased with King Goapaladeva and granted him favours such that he would attain success in all his affairs, acquire all knowledge, and have matchless power and prowess. The following verses mention some fierce battles Gopaladeva fought and won. His kirti (fame) was shining at Kedara, Prayaga, Pushkara, Purushottama, Bhimeshvara, Narmada, Gopalapura, Varanasi, Prabhasa, Gangasagar, Vairagyamatha, Sauripura, and Pedara. In the following verses, Gopala requests everyone in his mandala to protect his kirti. Kirti, probably here and in the previous verses, refers to temples constructed by the king at various places. The inscription was composed by poet Narayana, the author of Kavya Ramabhyudaya. The inscription was written by Dedu and engraved by Dhanapati. The inscription is not dated. King Gopala of this inscription is equated with the prince bearing the same name belonging to a collateral Kalachuri branch mentioned in a Sheorinarayan inscription. On this basis, the inscription may be dated around 1150 CE.
1 Beglar, J D (1882). Report of Tours in the South-Eastern Provinces in 1874-75 and 1875-76, volume XIII. Archaeological Survey of India. New Delhi. pp. 143-144
2 Cunningham, Alexander (1884). Report of a Tour in the Central Provinces and Lower Gangetic Doab in 1881-82, volume XVII. Archaeological Survey of India. New Delhi. p. 68
3 Progress Report of the Archaeological Survey of Western India for 1903-04. p. 48
4 Longhurst, A H (1913). Ancient Brick Temples in the Central Provinces, published in the Annual report of the Archaeological Survey of India for 1909-10. pp. 16-17
5 Minj, Rajeev John (2015). Art and Architecture of the Brick Temples of Chhattisgarh, Ph. D. thesis submitted to Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur. pp. 161-169
6 Mirashi, V V (1955). Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era, volume IV, part II. Government Epigraphist for India. Ootacamund. pp. 588-594
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.