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Martand Sun Temple

Coordinates: 33°44′44″N 75°13′13″E / 33.74556°N 75.22028°E / 33.74556; 75.22028
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Martand Sun Temple
Central shrine of the temple ruins
Religion
AffiliationHinduism
DistrictAnantnag district
DeitySurya (Martand)
Location
LocationAnantnag
StateJammu and Kashmir
CountryIndia
Martand Sun Temple is located in Jammu and Kashmir
Martand Sun Temple
Location within Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir
Martand Sun Temple is located in India
Martand Sun Temple
Location within India
Geographic coordinates33°44′44″N 75°13′13″E / 33.74556°N 75.22028°E / 33.74556; 75.22028
Architecture
TypeAncient Indian
CreatorLalitaditya Muktapida
Completed8th century CE
Demolished15th century CE

Martand Sun Temple is a Hindu temple located near the city of Anantnag in the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), India. It dates back to the eighth century CE and was dedicated to Surya, the chief solar deity in Hinduism; Surya is also known by the Sanskrit-language synonym Martand (मार्तण्ड, Mārtaṇḍa). The temple was destroyed by Sikandar Shah Miri.

History

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Establishment

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According to Kalhana, the Martand Sun Temple was commissioned by Lalitaditya Muktapida in the eighth century CE.

Destruction

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According to Jonaraja (fl. 1430) as well as Hasan Ali, the temple was destroyed by Sikandar Shah Miri (1389-1413) in a zeal to Islamise the society under the advice of Sufi preacher Mir Muhammad Hamadani;[a] Jonaraja pinned the blame on his chief-counsel Suhabhatta, a Brahman neo-convert who was held to have manifested a reign of intense persecution for the local Hindus whereas Ali particularly affirmed Sikandar's own convictions in these aspects.[1][2][3]

Scholars caution against accepting these sources at face value — Jonaraja was appointed by Sikandar's son, who sought to bring back the Brahminical elite into the royal fold while later Muslim chroniclers had their motives to fit the past into an idealist tale of orthodox Islamic morality. According to Chitralekha Zutshi and Richard G. Salomon, Sikandar's policies were guided by realpolitik[4] and, like with the previous Hindu rulers, an attempt to secure political legitimacy by asserting state power over Brahmans and gaining access to wealth controlled by Brahminical institutions.[5] J. L. Bhan notes a stone sculpture—a four-armed Brahma, sculpted by son of a Buddhist Sanghapati and dedicated to Sikandar—to challenge simplistic notions of religious persecution.[6] Slaje disagrees about an absence of religious motivations but notes the aversion of Brahmin chroniclers to be, largely, the result of resistance to the gradual disintegration of caste-hierarchy under Muslim influence.[7]

Degradation

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The ruins and the remnants of structure were further ruined by several earthquakes.[8]

Architecture

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The Martand temple was built on top of a plateau from where one can view whole of the Kashmir Valley. From the ruins and related archaeological findings, it can be said it was an excellent specimen of Kashmiri architecture, which had blended the Gandharan, Gupta and Chinese forms of architecture.[9][10]

The temple has a colonnaded courtyard, with its primary shrine in its center and surrounded by 84 smaller shrines, stretching to be 220 feet long and 142 feet broad total and incorporating a smaller temple that was previously built.[11] The temple turns out to be the largest example of a peristyle in Kashmir, and is complex due to its various chambers that are proportional in size and aligned with the overall perimeter of the temple. In accordance with Hindu temple architecture, the primary entrance to the temple is situated in the western side of the quadrangle and is the same width as the temple itself, creating grandeur. The entrance is highly reflective of the temple as a whole due to its elaborate decoration and allusion to the deities worshiped inside. The primary shrine is located in a centralised structure (the temple proper) that is thought to have had a pyramidal top - a common feature of the temples in Kashmir. Various wall carvings in the antechamber of the temple proper depict other gods, such as Vishnu, and river goddesses, such as Ganga and Yamuna, in addition to the sun-god Surya.[12]

  • Martand Sun Temple
  • Ruins in c. 1870
    Ruins in c. 1870
  • Restored impression by J. Duguid (1870–73)
    Restored impression by J. Duguid (1870–73)
  • Panorama of the ruins in summer of 2011
    Panorama of the ruins in summer of 2011
  • Ruins in winter of 2012
    Ruins in winter of 2012
Inscriptions within the temple ruins
Temple ruins as seen from the entrance to the main temple structure
Temple ruins as seen from the entrance to the main temple structure

Conservation

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The Archaeological Survey of India has declared the Martand Sun Temple as a site of national importance in Jammu and Kashmir.[13] The temple appears in the list of centrally protected monuments as Kartanda (Sun Temple).[14]

Details sign — ASI

Restoration

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In March 2024, the Jammu and Kashmir government initiated efforts to restore the temple.[15]

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Notes

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  1. ^ Son of Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (1314-1384), a Sufi preacher of the Kubrawiya order who had migrated from Huttalàn (present-day Tajikistan) in the wake of Timurid invasions to Shibu'd-Din's Kashmir.

References

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  1. ^ Slaje, Walter (2014). Kingship in Kaśmīr (AD 1148‒1459) From the Pen of Jonarāja, Court Paṇḍit to Sulṭān Zayn al-'Ābidīn. Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis - 7. Germany. pp. 28–29, 36, 155–173, 185–189, 201–203, 213–215. ISBN 978-3869770888.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Pandit, Kashinath (1991). Baharistan-i-shahi: A chronicle of mediaeval Kashmir. Kolkata: Firma KLM Pvt. Ltd.
  3. ^ Slaje, Walter (19 August 2019). "Buddhism and Islam in Kashmir as Represented by Rājataraṅgiṇī Authors". Encountering Buddhism and Islam in Premodern Central and South Asia. De Gruyter. pp. 128–160. doi:10.1515/9783110631685-006. ISBN 978-3-11-063168-5. S2CID 204477165.
  4. ^ Salomon, Richard; Slaje, Walter (2016). "Review of Kingship in Kaśmīr (AD1148–1459). From the Pen of Jonarāja, Court Paṇḍit to Sulṭān Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn. Critically Edited by Walter Slaje with an Annotated Translation, Indexes and Maps. [Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis 7], SlajeWalter". Indo-Iranian Journal. 59 (4): 393–401. doi:10.1163/15728536-05903009. ISSN 0019-7246. JSTOR 26546259.
  5. ^ Zutshi, Chitralekha (24 October 2017). "This book claims to expose the myths behind Kashmir's history. It exposes its own biases instead". Scroll.in. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  6. ^ Bhan, Jawahar Lal (2010). Kashmir Sculptures: An Iconographical Study of Brāhmanical Sculptures. Vol. 1. Delhi, India: Readworthy Publications. pp. 68–69.
  7. ^ Slaje, Walter (2019). "What Does it Mean to Smash an Idol? Iconoclasm in Medieval Kashmir as Reflected by Contemporaneous Sanskrit Sources". Brahma's Curse : Facets of Political and Social Violence in Premodern Kashmir. Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis - 13. pp. 30–40. ISBN 978-3-86977-199-1.
  8. ^ Bilham, Roger; Bali, Bikram Singh; Bhat, M. Ismail; Hough, Susan (1 October 2010). "Historical earthquakes in Srinagar, Kashmir: Clues from the Shiva Temple at Pandrethan". Ancient Earthquakes. doi:10.1130/2010.2471(10). ISBN 9780813724713.[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ Wink, André (1991). Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1 By André Wink. BRILL. pp. 250–51. ISBN 9004095098.
  10. ^ Chaitanya, Krishna (1987). Arts Of India By Krishna Chaitanya. Abhinav Publications. p. 7. ISBN 9788170172093.
  11. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica: a new survey of universal knowledge: Volume 12, pp:965
  12. ^ Kak, Ram Chandra. "Ancient Monuments of Kashmir". koausa.org. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  13. ^ "Archaeological survey of India protected monuments". heritageofkashmir.org. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  14. ^ "Protected monuments in Jammu & Kashmir". asi.nic.in, Archaeological Survey of India. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  15. ^ "J&K govt initiates efforts to restore 8th century Martand Sun temple". Hindustan Times. 30 March 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  16. ^ "Chala Bhi Aa Aaja Rasiya | Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi | Man Ki Aankhen 1970 Songs | Dharmendra". Retrieved 4 February 2020 – via www.youtube.com.
  17. ^ "Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi Shikwa To Nahin | Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar | Aandhi 1975 Songs". Retrieved 4 February 2020 – via www.youtube.com.
  18. ^ "Kashmiri Pandits seek ban on film Haider for misrepresenting ancient temple". The Indian Express. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sun Temple, Martand.

a)A History of Kashmir by Pandit Prithvi Nath Kaul Bamzai, pp. 140

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