MUNDESVARI TEMPLE

Mundesvari temple stands on the summit of an isolated hill about 603 feet high, at village Ramgarh, seven miles south-west of Bhabua, a sub-divisional headquarters of Shahabad district. The township of Bhabua is about eight miles from Bhabua Road railway station on the Grand Chord line of the Eastern Railway. Bhabua Road is directly on the famous National Highway known as the Grand Trunk road. The road from Bhabua Road railway station to Bhabua is a first-class, all- weather road and passenger buses and tangas drawn by horses are available. Grand Trunk is one of the best roads in India and so Bhabua is easily accessible by motor transport either from Calcutta or Delhi side. The seven-mile road from Bhabua to Ramgarh is a fair-weather road. Tangas are available at Bhabua.Mundesvari temple is the earliest specimen of the Nagara type of temple architecture available in Bihar. It is unfortunate that, although a distinct style of temple architecture, known as the Nagara type, was evolved in Magadha with its centre at Pataliputra, specimens of it even in Bihar are very rare. This gives an added importance to the Mundesvari temple, although much of the structure has crumbled down. From the point of view of the age of temples, this is the oldest in Bihar. The temple is in the shape of an octagon (ashtasra) and an octagonal ground plan for a temple is rather rare. The Sankaracharya temple at Srinagar built in the 18th century is another example. In the Mundesvari temple there are doors or windows on four sides and small niches for the reception of statues in theremaining four walls. The principal entrance is evidently to the east where a few pillars are still to be seen. These pillars must have once supported a portico. Inside the temple there is a lingam with four heads and a statue of Durga, together with a large stone vessel and a stone chest. Most of the latticed stone work on the windows has now disappeared but some of the specimens are preserved in the window to the north.The temple door facing the porch is a fine specimen of architecture with various figures of dancers and musicians. An inscription in two broken pieces was found and has been interpreted by some, as discussed later, to identify the origin of the temple to theyear 635 A.D. The inscription refers to Udayasena as the ruling chief and records various donations to Mandalesvara. There is clear impress of the Gupta style on the carvings. The temple was literally rescued from the jungles and debris at the beginning of this century. The clearance of the jungle brought to light a number of ancients relies. On the eastern slope of the hill a number of statues and rock- carved figures were discovered. The relies make it clear that the hill was once the site for a 'cluster of temples and the Mundesvari temple, at the summit, must have been the main shrine.It is very fortunate that Francis Buchanan, in his account of the District of Shahabad in 1812-13, has left a description of the Mundesvari temple and the tradition associated with it. Buchanan did not actually visit the place but sent a painter who drew a most remarkable likeness of it. Buchanan states. "The temple, now very ruinous, has been an octagon supported by four columns of an order common in Behar, and has had a porch supported by eight similar columns; having had four doors it is much lighterthan usual, although one of the doors is shut behind. In the centre is a Siva Linga, with four human faces on the phallus. The image called Mundesvari, or the goddess Munda, is an armed female having many hands and riding on a buffalo: it probably represents the wife of Mahisasur, a celebrated antagonist of Parvati the hair and ears evidently resemble those of the Buddhas: it is placed in the door, behind which is a small cavity without any external opening." Buchanan's account is of particular importance because of the tradition that was mentioned to him regarding the temple. It is as follows: " There was a certain Munda, whom people pretty generally call a Chero Raja; but the pandit of the survey says that he was a Daitya, who had a brother named Chanda, and both lived in the golden age. These brothers who, according to theMarkandeya Purana, were the chief military officers (senaptis) of Sumbha and Nisumbha, two great infidel (Daitya) kings, were killed by Parvati, who on that account is called Chamunda, a title, it is said, composed of the two infidels' names. It is further said that the proper name of Chayanpur is Chanupur derived from one of the brothers who resided there, while a small temple named Mundesvari, and situated on a hill about five miles east from Chayanpur, was built by the Daitya Munda. If there is any foundation for the Puranic legend, it may refer to some exploits in the Indian warfare of Semiramis; but from the appearance of the ruins I have little doubt not only of the truth of the common report of Munda Raja having been a Chero but that he was some small chief, who retained a dependent principality long after his nation had ceased to possess the imperial dignity. The town where Munda resided is called Garohat, and was situated on the banks of the Katane, just in the eastern mouth of a valley formed between the great mass and the detached range of hills west from Bhagwanpur. The whole of this valley was originally called Mukeri Kho; but that name has of late been restricted to a large recess towards its east end, down which the Katane flows. The situation was judicially chosen for the residence of a person such as I suppose Munda to have been; as it is not only in a very rich country, but has behind it recesses in themountains that are capable of defence by a small force; and even in case of defeat, the mountains afford a secure means of escape. It would appear from numerous heaps of bricks that the town of Garohat extended about 11 miles from east to west, and half a mile from north to south; it has not been fortified; but I believe that all the passes into the valley have been defended by lines. I thought that I could trace a very high rampart and wide ditch running in a straight line from the great mass of hills to the detached hill east from Bhagawanpur and in the pass between the latter and the detached hill next to it towards the west, at the village of Suraiya, has been collected some fragments of images called Hanuman, who at present is a favourite in that part of the country; but none of them have the smallest resemblance to a monkey. I could trace three of them to resemble entirely, what in the ruins of the Behar Cheros were called Ganesa, Hargauri leaning on a bull and lion, and Narayana riding on Garuda. A head also resembled that of the image called Vasudeva.The work, which by the vulgar are attributed to the Cheros, extended also all along the north side of the detached hills, both east and west from Garohat, where they have left several tanks and reservoirs, and some scattered images. Among these Rumajaya my native assistant, on the road between Majhar and Garohat, observed a Buddha seated in usual posture. The most remarkable of these detached works is, however, the temple of Mundesvarialready mentioned. Martin's Eastern India (Vol. 1, pp. 455-57) gives the plan of the structure before its conservation by the Public Works Department.The location of theMundesvari temple commands an exquisite view of hills and plains. The topography suggests that the area must have been used for fortification purposes in the distant past. Probably, some Hindu Rajas, who had their sway over the -area, had their seat of rule near about. A ditch surrounds the neighboring fort of Chayanpur and there are stone ramparts flanked with bastions. The fort has a large gate to the north and a smaller one to the south. The temple of Mundesvari is only about five miles from this fort. Chayanpur is apparently a distorted form of Chamundapur. Chanda and Munda, the two legendary demon brothers of Satya Yuga, were the commandants of Sumbha and Nisumbha, the demon kings. Markandeya Purana mentions that the demon kings were slain by Parvati. This is the story that was picked up in a distorted form by Francis Buchanan in the first decade of the 19th century. The story is still current with modifications. Garohat, the residence of Munda, is located on the banks of the river Katena just on the eastern side of the valley originally known as Mukari Khoh. The area was well chosen for defence purposes and the Mundesvari temple was undoubtedly the place of pilgrimage for the area.The image of Mundesvari is not typical of the familiar image of Mahisha- mardini. This type of Mahishamardini is, rather unusual because generally the deity is represented in the act of killing Mahishasura, the demon in the shape of a buffalo. Here the goddess is depicted with ten hands bearing, the usual weapons of a Mahisha- mardini but with the difference that she is not in the act of killing Mahishasura but is shown as riding a buffalo representing the demon . Mundesvari image is now the principal deity in the temple, which is visited by thousands who offer puja to the deity. It is, however, strange that the image of Mundesvari is found installed in one of the sub-chambers of the sanctuary and not at the centre of the cella, as is normally the case. A mukhalingam with four faces has been installed at the centre of the sanctuary of the temple, but this has not got the honor of being the presiding deity. The mukhalingam is deemed to bear the Gupta characteristic of art. The present position of Mundesvari has an interesting history. Dr. K. C. Panigrahi, sometime a Superin- tendent of the Eastern Archaeological Circle, has held that the presiding deity of the territory round about Mundesvari Hill was originally Narayana or Vishnu and, in 348-59 A.D., another new deity Vinitesvara was set up.There is now no trace of the Narayana image in this temple. The mukhalingam referred to is to be taken as theVinitesvara who was set up by Dandanayaka Gomibhata in 348-49 A.D. The Mundesvari inscription referred to before is of great epigraphic importance and explains the background.It may be mentioned that the stone slab containing the inscription had originally broken into two pieces, which were discovered at different times. Ultimately, they were joined together and preserved in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, Prof. R. D. Banerjee, who first edited the epigraphs, interpreted the inscription to mean that Dandanayaka Gomibhata arranged the co-existence of the Vinitesvara math in the temple shrine of Narayana during the reign of Mahasamanta Mahapratihara Maharaja Udayasena, in the year 30 of an unspecified era. Prof. Banerjee took the year 30 to be in the Harsha era commencing from 606 A.D., and assigned the epigraph to 636 A.D., which he also took to be the date of the temple. L.S.S. O’Malley, I.C.S., in the last District Gazetteer of, Shahabad published in 1906 and repeated in the revised edition in 1924. Dr. R. D. Banerjee's view was not, however, shared by others. The epigraphy was not a part of the temple and need not have been its contemporary. Mr. N. G. Mazumdar* studied the paleographical peculiarities of the inscription and referred the year 30 to the Gupta era 318-19 A. D., and held the date of the inscription to be 348-49 A.D. Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar, in the list of North Indian Inscriptions, No. 1257, p. 170 and fu. 4, indicated that he was not much in favor of assigning it to theSeventh Century A.D. and his remarks rather indicate that he considered the inscription to be much earlier than the Fourth Century A.D.Dr. K. C. Panigrahi appears to have correctly related the three names in the inscriptions, namely, Narayana, Vinitesvara and Mandalesvara. He takes them to be the names of three separate deities and finds in the inscription indications of three periods in the religious history of the shrine. According to him, originally it was a Vaishnava shrine with Narayana as the presiding deity, succeeded near about Seventh Century A.D. by Shaivism and Vinitesvara, originally a subsidiary deity that became the pre-ready siding deity of the Place. In course of time, Mundesvari or a Mahisamardini image was installed when Shaktism had supplanted Shaivism. Mandalesvara clearly means the Lord or the presiding deity of the mandala (district or territory) and the ending isvara cannot have the same significance as it has in the names of Siva. Narayana mentioned in the inscription cannot be one and the same deity as Mandalesvara. There can also be no doubt that Mundesvari is not a distorted form of Mandalesvara as held by Prof. R. D. Banerjee. According to the commonly accepted story, which was also mentioned by Buchanan and Martin, Munda, the brother of Chanda, had established the goddess Mundesvari. Dr. Panigrahi rightly finds nothing, unusual in the name, as there are names of deities like Varun- esvara, Indresvara, etc. The real history of the shrine was apparently forgotten and the people came fondly to believe that Munda established the Goddess. Mundesvari or Parvati originally was installed as one of the three images in three sub-chambers of the sanctuary with the mukhalingam as the centre as indicated in Martin's plan in his Eastern India. But Mundesvari image, somehow, came to be preserved while the images of Kartikeya and Ganesa, the two other images in the niches, have been lost. It may be mentioned here that a large image of Ganesa is found half buried in the ruins of a small temple in the way leading to the top of the hill and might have been one of the Parsva-devatas originally enshrined in one of the side chambers of the Mundesvari temple.Dr. Panigrahi's view seems to be correct and there is nothing strange about it. With the passage of time the Goddess Mundesvari, originally a Parsva-devata in the Shaiva shrine of Vinitesvara, became the presiding deity of the temple, although she continues in the same position in the cella. The transposition appears to have taken place particularly during the time of the Cheros, a powerful aboriginal tribe who ruled over a portion of Shahabad for a long time.Munda was a Chero king and Francis Buchanan and Martin were wrong in thinking that he had established the image of theGoddess Mundesvari. The aboriginal tribes in this part of the country are more prone to worship the female deities and there can be no wonder that Shaktism flourished with the Chero kings and the deity of Mundesvari, representing Shakti, came to be worshipped as the principal deity of the temple, where she was a minor image at one time. The mukhalingam, which was still in the central position of the cella, was relegated to a minor position. The history of the temples in India shows that very few images installed in the central position have been subordinated to other deities fixed in the niches. It is also remarkable that this temple appears to have been left unmolested when Muslim rule under Sher Shah was set up in this area. The neighboring Chayanpur fort was one of the citadels of Sher Shah and the Muslim pockets in the neighboring villages suggest that a much larger Muslim population had lived in the area when Muslim rule was predominant. The ravages to Mundesvari temple are not man-made but due to the passage of time. A big annual fair (mela) is held near the Mundesvari temple during the Navaratra. Buchanan Hamilton has mentioned in his memoirs that "about 2000 votaries assemble here at a fair (mela) ". Now the mela is visited by even more than ten thousand persons.Mundesvari temple is an important landmark in the story of temples in Bihar, being the oldest in age and the only specimen of Nagara architecture, as also because of the transposition of the prestige of the deities that has already been discussed. The area is well worth a visit and possibly excavation. It is true the sikhara of the temple is not in existence but a fragment of the amalaka (fluted finial) originally crowning the spire is still lying in the site. Round about the temple there are several half-amalakas. It may be safely presumed that the bhumi-amalakas had originally been used on the spire of the temple. From this point of view, the Mundesvari temple stands comparison with the Parasuramesvara temple at Bhuvaneswar in Orissa. The exact height of the vertical portion of the temple, at which the ceiling was originally constructed, cannot now be ascertained. The sculptures, on the Chaitya-windows, Kirtti-mukhas, lotus medallions, foliated vase-capitals, scrolls and arabesques show clear impress of the Gupta age. The temple has also some erotic figures.This ancient temple owes a lot to the Archaeological Department of India. Luckily, T. Bloch visited the Mundesvari temple at the beginning of this century and recorded his impression, published in the Annual Report (for 1902) of the Archaeological Survey, Bengal Circle, as follows: "The temple was built entirely of stone, and is now in a very ruinous state. Many of the stones have fallen down, and now form huge piles around the temple. I am afraid, to bring it into proper repair would be a very costly matter and I have for this reason not yet submitted a special report on it. But I intend doing so later on, as Hindu temples of such a high antiquity are very rare, especially in this province, and as, for this reason, it seems desirable to have the building tested by anexperienced architect, who would be able to pronounce an opinion as to what can be done to it, and at what cost. My statement with regard to the age of the temple, is based partly on the form of the writing which is found all along the way up to the temple incised on the rock, evidently pilgrims' records, partly oil the style of its carvings and various ancient statues, found among the debris around the temple.Among the latter I observed a statue of Shiva, which still shows the phallic emblem of the God. As I have observedpreviously, this is decidedly a sign of antiquity, for, in later periods, this mark was left out in statues of the God. Inside the temple now stand a largeChau-mukhi Mahadeo, and a statue of Durga, both of later date than the temple. Various other remains, partly of brick buildings, are seen all along the eastern slope of the hill, also some rock- carvings, apparently of ancient times."The Public Works Department has done some repairs to the temple. This Department irrespective of the original position of the ceiling has constructed the present roof