‘Deogarh Dashavatar temple and Jain temple’- History hidden somewhere….

I have heard of this place for last two years but never felt the calling; rather I preferred more known places, places termed as UNESCO world heritage sites. Finally on one Sunday morning in December 2011, I got a call from my friend who was stationed at Lalitpur and asked me to accompany him for a ride on his bike. I bought a general ticket and boarded the Kushinagar Express for Lalitpur. I was little bit unhappy with myself for this unplanned trip and to a less known place on a cold Sunday morning. I searched for “Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh” on Google thru mobile phone and found out that  the Dashavatar temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu built during Gupta era (320-550  AD) and is the earliest known Panchayatana temple in North India. I was pleasantly surprised.

I reached Lalitpur at 9 am and saw my friend eagerly awaiting. I enjoyed the bike ride in a freezing morning through the villages and almost empty roads. The ride took almost 45 minutes. After the first glance my jaw dropped in awe. The first thing that came to my mind were the following lines from a Rabindranath Tagore’s poem: few lines which can be translated as below –

I traveled miles, for many a year,
I spent a lot in lands afar,
I’ve gone to see the mountains, the oceans I’ve been to view.
But I haven’t seen with these eyes
Just two steps from my home what lies
On a sheaf of paddy grain, a glistening drop of dew.

In front of my eyes there was world’s one of the earliest Hindu temples built during the ‘Golden period’ of Indian art. Actually it was a Vishnu temple with ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu so named as Dashavatar temple. Hardly 20% of the actual temple remained and rest demolished by rulers of Medieval India and this remaining 20% can take anyone’s breath away. 

“Sir, aap koun bivag se aaye hain?” I came back to reality when I saw a Guard asking me who was also surprised to see someone with a big camera looking at the temple with utter surprise and pleasure. Manohar, the temple guard became my guide for the day and narrated the special features of the temple :–  Ganga- Yamuna on both sides of the main gate of Garvagriha, the Nar- Narayan tapasya, Vishnu reclining on the serpent, carved panel of Gajendra- Moksha Vishnu saves Gajendra, Lord Shiva and sculptures of other Hindu deities. Manohar also showed us the design of the main temple before it was demolished, inscribed on one of the pillars.  Most of the sculptures are deformed but tell their story proudly of their Golden age. The roof of the temple was lying about 100 ft away- uprooted, pillars of the main temple are missing, eight sub temples fully demolished…….… one must need great  imagination power to visualize the glorified full sized temple and I was just trying to do that and asked my fried “can we go back 1500 years back? Think how beautiful these statues were when they were untouched”. The temple does not have any deity (Lord Vishnu) on the main platform of Garvagriha, thus making it away from plastics, incense sticks, flowers, coconuts etc, at least something to cheer about.  

For the next half an hour there was only the sound of my camera click …… click…. click, the locals who flew from one tree to another did not bother the few intruders in their secluded place and  were busy responding to each other in a soothing tune. Isolated from the hue and cry modern civilization, the serenity of the place made the overall atmosphere amazing beyond description.

I was ready to leave when Manohar showed me the feedback register and asked me to note down my observations/ feedback. He escorted me to the gate and said with a smile “Sir, fir aaiye ga”.

More surprises were waiting for me when my friend asked me to visit the Jain temples just a few hundred yards away. I was in no mood to refuse the offer.

The Jain temples have a large number of panels depicting scenes from Jain mythology, Tirthankara images and votive tablets. The pillars are carved with a thousand Jain figures. The site was also declared as ‘Protected Monument’ by the Archeological Survey of India.

There were 31 Jain temples of different sizes and are dated later than the Hindu temples. They are categorized into two distinct periods: the early medieval period from 850 to 950, and the medieval period between 950 and 1150. During the Islamic iconoclast depredations, the temples were devastated; this was compounded by the growth of vegetation and neglect. Jain sculptures lie scattered on both sides of the path from the gate on the walls of the fort. A notable pillar seen here is called the Manastambha.

I captured the beauty of the place in my camera and finished visiting the whole temple by 3 pm. We were heading back for Lalitpur station and felt that we indeed survived on two samosas since the morning; but after such an enthralling experience, hunger did not overpower the thirst of our eyes.