Udaipur, Madhya Pradesh

Śiva temple, Udaipur temple, Madhya Pradesh

The most important temple at Udaipur is that dedicated to Śiva and known today as the Nīlakaṇṭheśvara. It was built in the second half of the eleventh century and is the only surviving royal temple of the Paramara kings. An inscription in the eastern porch records the building of the temple in Vikrama Saṃvat 1137 or 1080-81 CE.[3] Architecturally, the temple spire belongs to a class known as bhūmija, or 'earth born,' a mode of temple building that originated in the Mālwa region.[4]

The complex Śaiva iconography of the temple has been studied by Doria Tichit.[5]

In the entrance porch of the temple are series of more than sixty votive records.[6] Not yet studied in a systematic fashion, these form a continuous sequence from the time of the Paramāras – Devapāla (1218–39) is mentioned – through the period of the Tughluqs and beyond. For example, one inscription mentions a festival (yātrā) of the god Udaleśvara in 1338, the same year as the Tughluq inscription recording the construction of the mosque in the temple precinct.[7]

Udaipur (Dist. Vidisha). One of a pair of mosque inscriptions from the time of Muhammad ibn Tughluq, dated 737 and 739 (i.e. CE 1336-37 and CE 1338-39).

Directly next to the temple is a small mosque constructed during the reign of Muhammad ibn Tughluq. A pair of inscriptions record the building of this structure in AH 737 and 739 AH (i.e. 1336-37 and 1338-39 CE).[8]

A short distance to the south of the Shiva temple is a mosque with an inscription recording its construction in the time of Islam Shah of the Sur Dynasty in 1549.[9] The inscription is placed directly over the mihrab.[10] The shows the continued importance of Udaypur on the north-south route to the Deccan in the time of the Suri rulers. Despite its importance and uniqueness, the authorities have let the monument fall into ruins.