Chapter 3 Architecture of Bhand Deul Temple

The temple is located on a high jagati (plinth) and faces the west. It is easily
noticeable that the exterior of the temple is richly carved with opulence of
ornamented sculptures. Aside from the plinth's height, the shrine includes an
adhisthana (basement) that elevates the shikhara's already imposing position. The
only sections of the temple that have survived are the garbhagriha (sanctum) and
the constricted antarala (vestibule), with no trace of the mandapa (pillared hall) or
the ardhamandapa (portico) (Plate 3.1 Image of the temple).

Layout

The layout of the temple is nearly circular and consists of a string of offset facets
that are polygonal. The polygonal facets make the plan of the temple stellate.

Upapitha (Plate 3.2 Image of the upapitha portion) .

The mouldings of the upapitha rest on a khara – sila on the top of which there is a
tall bhitta course.

The jagati is engraved with various mouldings, they are - .

• First one is the lotus scroll that is geometrically carved in a proper manner.

• The second in the line is the gajathara or the elephant frieze in which we can see
a line of elephants marching towards different directions.

• Third one is asvathara or the horsemen frieze in which human figures are shown
riding horses. It is a line of horsemen riding on horses heading towards both left
and right direction.

• Fourth is the narathara or the human frieze with human figures that can be seen
involved in different activities. We can see the human figures dancing and playing
instruments and also some erotic scenes.

• Fifth one is a frieze of rosette on which alluring floral designs have been
inscribed.

• Sixth one is an antarpatti.

• Seventh and the last moulding is the kapotapali topped with a grasamukha.

Vedibandha
It is located above the jagati or upapitha and contains all its usual mouldings, that
are – khura, kumbha, and are heavily ornamented and are crowned by a mancika.

Khura

It consists of a broad manibandha which is a Kalachuri attribute. Jewels are

decorated on the upper part of it and lower part has the decoration of chess pattern.
The antarpatti consists of the lotus scroll motif.

Kumbha

On the lower part of the kumbha a latticed band is engraved. The latticed band is a
Kalachuri ornament.

Jangha

It is divided into two equal parts by a pattika which is embellished with

vidyadhara frieze. It is situated above the vedibandha. The two parts of the jangha
are called talajangha and uparajangha. It is decorated by two bands of sculptures
running throughout the walls on the three sides of the temple. The bhadra niches
of the talajangha consist of four-headed female deities or sasanadevis. Other
figures are dancers, musicians, ascetics, warriors, couples and dikpalas and vyalas
are depicted in the recesses. Male counterparts of the sasanadevis can be seen. On
the top of the uparajangha there are chadya, bharna and a lion capital which is
capped by a heavy kutacchadya that is the seperating the jangha from the
shikhara.

Bhadra

It is worth mentioning that the temple has six bhadras which is a unique feature
that has been mentioned in any text (Krishnadeva, 1975). The bhadras contains
niches that hold different deities. There are three karnas between each pair of
bhadras. This aspect is similar to the Surya temple at Ranakpur (Krishnadeva,
1975).

Baranda

The baranda consists of hamsapattika or frieze of swans above the kapota or

kapotapali. It also has three horizontal decorative mouldings that are mounted by a
series of urushringas in the polygonal offsets.

Garbhagriha

There is a high terrace right before the garbhagriha and there are five steps for
reaching it. The open terrace indicates that the mandapa and ardhamandapa did
exist sometime in the past and are now destroyed. The garbhagriha is quite lower
than the sill of dwara (doorway) and one need to go down inside it with the help of
three steep steps. The enshrined images are three standing nude images of
Trithankaras that are made up of black basalt.

Antarala

It is distinguished from the garbhagriha with the help of mandata sirsa (bracket-
capital) pilasters that are on the same level, projecting from either walls on the
sides and the entablatures above them are projecting in the same way. The
antarala also has flat conjoining squares on top.

Vitana (Ceiling) (Plate 3.3 image of the ceiling of the

Ceiling of the grabhagriha is sundakara (dome shaped) and comprises of

concentric fretted circles that are richly engraved and also four probably female
figures can be seen rising up from the extending brackets at the springing line and
supporting the apex of the dome and a kamala placed in the center can be seen.

Pillars and Pilasters

Pillars and pilasters are plain and rectangular in shape. They have uneven corners
that are decorated at lower part by some figures. Capital is plain as well just like
the pillars.
Dwara (Doorway)

Much of the doorway is lost and what remains now is the pedestal is decorated
with some deities and gajavali or frieze of elephants that are marching from both
left and right side.

Shikhara

Front face of the sukanasa and much of the north-east and south-east portions of
the shikhara have been destroyed and repaired with the help of plain white washed
plaster. The shikhara springs up from the hamsapattika situated over the kapota.
On the shikhara we can see latas above the six bhadras and kutastambhas above
the stellate recesses of the karnas.

The huge ornamented caityamundis is displayed on the bhadra of the shikhara.

The offsets of the shikhara just leaving the bhadras consists of kutastambhas in
each quadrants.

Kutastambha

There are five tires of kutastambhas which on the shikhara are placed above the
stellate recesses of the karnas. All of the kutastambhas have niched diamonds in
the lower part and their structure is made according to the regional features.
Assimilation of the Dahala Style & Bhumija

Bhand Deul is not a typical Bhumija temple and is quite unconventional when it
comes to its architectural features. The elements showcase assimilation of two
different styles i.e. the Kalchuri style and the Bhumija style.

The assimilation of these two styles indicates that the Kalachuri dynasty had a
huge impact on the region of South Kosala this statement can be supported with
the fact that an offshoot of the Kalachuris of Tripuri ruled parts of present-day
Chhattisgarh and their capital was Ratanpura (present day Ratanpur, in Bilaspur
District).

The Ratanpur inscription of Jajjaladeva I, issued in the year 1114 AD states that
the Kalachuri king Kokalla had eighteen sons, the eldest ascended the throne at
Tripuri after him and the younger sons became feudatory governors. The Ratanpur
branch was started by one of these younger sons. (F. Kielhom, 1888). The name of
the son who established the new branch was Kalingaraja and he he did so around
1000 AD. (Misra, 2003)

It is worth noting that the temple was built around the same time when rule of the
Kalachuris was established in the Dakshina Kosala area.

In India’s early medieval history, Kalachuri architecture played a vital role.

Several innovations can be discovered in this dynasty’s temples, some of them can
also be observed in this temple.
Krishnadeva’s opinion regarding the architecture of the temple is that it is a
Bhumija temple built in the kosalan or dahala style prevalent in the region during
that time and bears close affinity to the Virateshvara temple situated at Sohagpur,
in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh which is also a contemporary of Bhand
Deul.

Elements of Bhumija style

In the temple there are a few distinctive features of Bhumija that can be identified
like, the presence of kutastambhas, stambhakutas or bhumis. The temple consists
of five tiers of kutastambhas which is similar to the number of kutastambhas
prescribed in the Malayadari (‘Malaya Mountain’, i.e. name of a mountain) type
of Bhumija shikhara, one of the styles mentioned in the text Samarangana
Sutradhara. Also, like any other Bhumija shikhara the central ratha reaches up to
the amalaka.

The temple is also nirandhara like all the Bhumija temples.

Elements of Kalachuri style

There are various characteristic features of the mature phase of the temple
architecture of the Kalachuris of Tripuri as well as the architecture of the
Kalachuris of Ratanpura that can be noticed on the temple.
Like most temples belonging to the Kalachuri dynasty the temple stands on a high
jagati and a high adhishthan.

Similar to the temples of the Kalachuris of Ratanpura, garbhagriha of the temple

is positioned on a lower level, making the addition of steps compulsory for
entering the garbhagriha through the doorway of the temple.

Also, just like the Kalachuri temples the vitana (ceiling) of this temple consists of
concentric circles that have some decoration. There is also a kamala placed in the
center on the dome of the garbhagriha (R. Ali, 1980).

The khura and the kumbha of the temple display the Kalachuri attributes. The
khura of the vedibandha of the temple consists of a prominent manibandha which
is associated with the Kalachuri temples. Also, the existence of a latticed band
which is a typical Kalachuri ornament is carved on the lower part of the kumbha
(Krishnadeva, 1975).

The shikhara is curvilinear (rekha nagara) similar to the Kalachuri temples that
generally consist of the same type of shikhara (R. Ali, 1980).

The formation of the kutastambhas is also regional. The lower part of the
kutastambhas have niched diamonds (Krishnadeva, 1975).

Stellate Plan
The Bhumija temples follow a stellate plan always and hence the Bhand Deul
seems to have followed it similarly. However, stellate plans were also seen in
some cases in Kosala region like Sirpur, i.e. Rama temple (Stadtner, 1981). He
feels that the areas from the west of Dakshina Koasala till the east of Malwa
perhaps were the first ones to experiment with the stellate plan. Thus stellate plan
was not a new element to temple architecture in Kosala. Interestingly, though the
elevation of the temple has elements which appear Kalachuri in affiliation, the
plan along with the kutastambhas and bhumis suggest a more Bhumija influence
on the temple style

Similarities with the Virateshwar Temple

Virateshwar temple which is located at Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh, is one

of the finest and most popular temples of the Kalachuris of Tripuri.

As mentioned above that Krishnadeva has pointed out similarities between Bhand
Deul and Virateshwar. The temples have similar proportion. Also, parts of the
shikhara are bold and quite wide similar to the shikhara of Virateshwar temple. It
is a distinctive feature employed in Kalchuri architecture to enhance the beauty of
the temple.

Summary

It seems that the temple is fine blend of the two styles, viz. Dahala and Bhumija.
This temple has a greater influence of the Bhumija style of Malwa but since the
style of Kalachuris was quite prevalent in the Kosala region, the temple has
adopted elements peculiar to Kalachuri style in the elevation of the temple