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Basheshwar Mahadev Temple, Bajaura

This Shiva temple at Bajaura is made completely out of stone in the Shikhara style, and is renowned for its intricate sculpture art.

Archeologically, the temple is dated to around the early 9th century A.D.

In local belief, this temple is believed to have been built by the Pandavas.

Approaching the temple from the west.
The temple is a monolithic stone structure carved and revealed out of the pre-existing rock at the site, similar to the Masrur temples in the Himalayan foothills.

  • It is of the Nagara style with Gurjara-Pratihara architecture normally found in the Gujarat-Madhya Pradesh-Rajasthan area.

Temple seen from the southwest.
The temple features intricately carved beautiful artwork from all three major Hindu traditions: Shaivism, Shaktism and Vaishnavism, as well as Vedic deities such as Surya.


West facade of the temple.

West door architrave.

Details of the architrave of the west door.

West door of the temple.

Shiva sculpture at the west door.

Detail of the southwest corner.

North facade of the temple.

Door on the north facade of the temple.

Durga sculpture on the door of the north facade.
Durga is shown in a particularly active form, eight-armed and in the process of killing Shumbha and Nishumbha.

  • Below is the buffalo demon, his head sliced off, while the lion of Durga tears at other demons.

Temple seen from the southeast.

Ganesha sculpture at the south door.

East facade of the temple.

Entering the interior of the temple through the east door.

Interior of the temple.

Shiva linga in the centre of the temple.
A lingam (lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism.

  • It is often represented within a disc-shaped platform, the yoni – its feminine counterpart, consisting of a flat element, horizontal compared to the vertical lingam, and designed to allow liquid offerings to drain away for collection.
  • Together, they symbolize the divine eternal process of creation and regeneration, and the union of the feminine and the masculine that recreates all of existence.
  • See more at Lingam - Wikipedia.

Small altar for offerings in front of the east door.

Sculpture of Visvarupa.
Vishvarupa (lit. 'universal form') is an iconographical form and theophany of a Hindu deity, most commonly associated with Vishnu in contemporary Hinduism.

  • Visvarupa has three heads: a human (centre), a lion (the head of Narasimha, the man-lion avatar of Vishnu) and a boar (the head of Varaha, the boar avatar of Vishnu) and four arms. Multiple beings and Vishnu's various avatars emerge from the main figure.
  • See more at Vishvarupa - Wikipedia.

Sacred tree on the east side of the temple.
There are numerous sacred groves of India. In Hindu belief, the Kalpavriksha is a wish granting tree.

  • In addition to the Panchvati trees, other sacred trees include species such as the Akshayavat (sacred fig tree), Banana leaf, Kadamba, Parijaat, and Sandalwood.
  • The Bodhi Tree (banyan) is specially revered, and there are numerous large banyan trees in India.
  • Matsya Purana, a Hindu text, has a Sanskrit language hymn (shloka), which explains the importance of reverence of ecology in Hinduism. It states, "A pond equals ten wells, a reservoir equals ten ponds, while a son equals ten reservoirs, and a tree equals ten sons."
  • See more at Sacred tree, Indic religions - Wikipedia.

Precinct around the sacred tree.

Altar leaning against the sacred tree.

See also

Sources

Location

Location: Bishweshwar Temple Rd, Bajaura, Himachal Pradesh 175125, India