24

Ashapuri
Resurrecting a
Medieval Temple Site

Adam Hardy
 Ashapuri
Resurrecting a
Medieval Temple Site

The village of Ashapuri is about 32 km south of

Bhopal, and 6 km from the fam ous, unfinished
Shiva tem ple of Bhojpur, attributed to the
eleven th-cen tury Param ara Kin g Bhoja
(c.10 10 -55).1 The tem ple rem ains that lie in
the vicinity of Ashapuri, now under the
protection of the Directorate of Archaeology,
Archives an d Museum s (DAAM), Govern m en t
of Madhya Pradesh, testify to a flourishing cult
centre during the Pratihara and Param ara
periods, with con tin uous activity in tem ple
con struction from the n in th to eleven th
centuries. When Bhoja began construction of
his gigantic royal tem ple at Bhojpur, Ashapuri
would have been the m ajor urban settlem ent
nearby. Previously, on the edge of the alluvial
plain of the Betwa, when Bhoja dam m ed the
river at Bhojpur with enorm ous stone blocks,
Ashapuri m ust have becom e a lakeside town.
When I first visited Ashapuri in 20 0 0 , a
sm all group of ruined m edieval tem ples was
apparent at Bilota, south-east of the village,
and a sm all m useum exhibiting sculpture and
architectural fragm en ts, of startlin gly fin e
quality for such a little-known site. Seven
years later, Dr. O.P. Mishra of DAAM showed
m e a far m ore extensive concentration of
tem ple rem ains on a hill to the north of the
village, sloping down to an ancient tank. At
that tim e, the rem ains consisted of overgrown
heaps of blackened fragm ents, with just the
pillars and beam s of one m andapa standing
out of the rubble beside the ghat. Since then,
DAAM have cleared, cleaned and laid out

thousands of the fragm ents, revealing the
bases of som e twenty-six tem ples. This site is
known nowadays as the Bhutanatha (usually
Bhootnath, i.e. Lord of Ghosts) group of
tem ples, after the nam e given locally to the
largest of them , num bered Tem ple 21.
Whether their destruction is due to
natural or hum an causes is still uncertain:
earthquake or warfare? An ythin g beyon d the
eleven th cen tury is con spicuously absen t
from the Bhutanatha group, and from Bilota.
So, did the sam e calam ity that halted work at
Bhojpur spell the end of Ashapuri at the sam e
tim e?
The full historical and architectural
significance of Ashapuri and Bhojpur can only
be understood if the two sites are considered
together. Stylistic peculiarities at Bhojpur
point to Ashapuri as the m ain source for
m asons. Used to carving exquisite detail for
sm all, intim ately related shrines, the shift to
the cyclopean scale of Bhojpur m ust have
been as bewildering as it had been for their
Chola counterparts a few years earlier,
accustom ed to alpav im an as an d called to
build the Brihadishvara at Thanjavur. The
Bhojpur tem ple as it stands is not obviously a
Bhum ija tem ple, although I have argued
elsewhere that it was intended to be; but,
regardless of this, its detailing and am ple other
evidence at the site show it to be the creation
of craftsm en specialising in this new form of
tem ple that the Param aras m ade their
preferred on e, exem plified m ost gloriously in
the Udayeshvara tem ple at Udayapur
(dedicated in 10 8 0 CE ).
Unlike other tem ple
form s, the Bhum ija appears as if it has been
in ven ted rather than havin g evolved
gradually. Beyond its legacy to Bhojpur of a
new tem ple m ode and—in term s of the
characteristics and hallm arks of the school of
m asons—a new style, Ashapuri holds am ong
its scattered fragm ents the rem ains of what
m ust be the earliest known Bhum ija tem ples.
Ashapuri:
Resurrecting a
Medieval
Temple Site
335
Whether or not the new form was invented
here, the site exhibits the kind of thinking
underlying that invention, with its
experim en tation in com posite tem ple design s
and its awareness of different regional
tr ad ition s.
With O.P. Mishra’s encouragem ent, I had
recently begun to take a m ore sustained
in terest in Ashapuri, when the opportun ity
arose to work on the site as part of a larger
project funded by World Monum ents Fund
(WMF) in partnership with DAAM, set up to
develop con servation strategies for im portan t
architectural sites un der the protection of the
Governm ent of Madhya Pradesh.2 For m any of
the sites, the task is to preserve and
sen sitively en han ce the often crum blin g fabric
of relatively intact structures. In the case of
Ashapuri, any m eaningful plan depends on
first attem pting, on paper initially, to
reconstruct the designs of the m onum ents that
were there, and to ascertain which of them
could potentially be there once again if
enough pieces of the jigsaw puzzle rem ain.
The larger puzzle, in the Bhutanatha
group alon e, con sists of twen ty-six sm aller
puzzles, som ewhat jum bled together an d on ly
provision ally sorted, with m an y pieces
m issing. To search across the site for a given
piece is often m ade difficult by vegetation,
especially during and after the m onsoon.
Som e pieces are at the site m useum , or the
State Archaeology Museum or the Birla
Museum in Bhopal. Ideally, it m ight be m ost
fruitful to work on the whole site at once and
reveal all the tem ple designs in one go, but
realities dem and that the work should proceed
sequentially. For each tem ple, in turn, we are
m aking a photographic database of the
fragm ents, with key dim ensions. As each
n um bered batch in evitably con tain s pieces
from several of the m onum ents, a sense of the
character of all the different tem ples is
em er gin g.
Art, Icon and
Architecture
in South Asia
336
Fig. 24.1. Temple 17, Ashapuri, north-west.
This paper presen ts the recon struction s
of the two tem ples for which we have so far
com pleted feasibility reports. These, n am ely
Tem ples 5 and 17, are two of the earlier
m onum ents from the Pratihara period. The
paper concludes with som e reflections on the
later m onum ents, including the Bhutanatha
and related tem ples that are so im portant as
unique exem plars of the initial blossom ing of
the Bhum ija m ode. It was this aspect of the site
that had drawn m e to it again, but it quickly
becam e evident that the ‘Pratihara’ works,
represen tative of the widespread, m ain stream ,
‘post-Gupta’, Nagara tradition of central India,
were no m ere run-of-the-m ill products of that
tradition , in terestin g on ly as precursors to a
m om ent of glory at the dawn of the Bhum ija.
They were fine exam ples; they showed the
play of ideas within that tradition, and they
exhibited form s kn own n owhere else.
TEMPLE 17
Tem ple 17 (Fig. 24.1) is probably the earliest
m onum ent in the group, dating from around
the first half of the ninth century. A high
proportion of the original stones are available
– around eighty percent – so this tem ple
would be a prim e candidate for anastylosis
(reassem bly with a m inim um of replaced
stones). Facing east, the sm all shrine stands in
a paved, sunken area, and was perhaps
originally encased, gem -like, by a prakara wall
of less durable m aterial. The sunken level is
entered from the east down steps, and the
space in front of the tem ple is flanked to the
north and south by a pair of recesses in the
retaining wall, containing pedestals for
im ages.
A pitha (pedestal) that supposedly
supported the m ain deity of this tem ple is now
in the Tem ple 17 stack, and a fine im age of
Surya kept at the site m useum is thought by
DAAM to be from Tem ple 17, although it does

Fig. 24.2. Temple 17, reconstructed plan and section.
not fit the pitha. That this was a Surya tem ple
is suggested by a Surya figure at the centre of a
lintel that corresponds to the door-jam bs from
this shrine. The m useum also contains a well-
preserved giant gav aksha with Surya at the
centre, from the crowning of a shukanasa.
This fits the dim ensions of Tem ple 17, but one
cannot be certain that it belongs to it. If
Tem ple 17 was indeed dedicated to Surya, we
shall see that the iconography of the exterior
is surprisin g.
The platform (pitha) of the tem ple, which
con sists solely of a jady akum bha (cym a
m oulding), and the v edibandha (m oulded
base) that stands on it, though considerably
dislodged, survives largely in tact, with its
Ashapuri:
Resurrecting a
Medieval
Temple Site
337
m ain ly double-skin con struction clearly
visible. It com prises the usual kum bha,
kalasha and kapotali m ouldings. The kum bha
is m ade in one course of m asonry, while the
subsequen t course in cludes both kalasha an d
kapotali. A tulapitha (joist-end m oulding)
takes the place of the kalasha in the
pratirathas. Niches con tain in g celestial
figures appear on the bhadras and on the
projections of the kapili (the wall of the
antarala). Also in-situ are the door-sill, five
pilasters and a portion of slab/ beam . A
m ukham andapa (porch) leads to an antarala
(antecham ber), then on to the garbhagriha.
The entrance from the antarala is flanked by
pilasters ornam ented with lotus roundels, and
there were origin ally four corn er pilasters to
carry the beam s to support the garbhagriha
ceilin g slab.
From these standing portions, along with
the surviving fragm ents, we are able to
reconstruct the tem ple design (Figs. 24.2–
24.3). It belongs to the Latina (single-spired)
m ode of Nagara tem ple, and is pancharatha
(of five projections) with the pratirathas
(in term ediate projection s) m erged with the
bhadra (cen tral projection ). Over the n iches
of the bhadras were ribbed chhady as
supporting udgam as (pedim en ts). The
pratirathas and adjacent recesses are plain,
except for the kinkinikajala (band of sm all
bells) that runs all along the top of the jangha.
The karn as (corn er projection s), each
displaying a niche, are not m ade out of single
blocks, or of coursed corn er blocks; in stead,
each karna com prises two blocks running the
full jangha height, joined at a m itred corner.
The two karna faces abutting the junction with
the kapili are a little m ore than half the width
of the others, with a correspondingly
trun cated n ich e.
Fortun ately, the five prin cipal im ages
from the exterior walls have survived,
together with the flanking pilasters and
shardhulas (leonine m onsters). The deities
and their disposition are unusual for a Surya
Art, Icon and
Architecture
in South Asia

338

Fig. 24.3. Temple 17, reconstructed north elevation.


Fig. 24.4. Ganesha from west bhadra of Temple 17, now
at Ashapuri site museum.
tem ple. In the bhadras we do not find Surya,
as gen erally seen , un problem atically, in
central Indian Surya tem ples of the ninth
century, such as those at Mandkheda and
Um ri. We have Karttikeya, Ganesha (Fig.
24.4), and Kubera, no doubt in the south, west
and north, respectively. The south kapili n iche
contained an im age of Parvati in penance, the
north kapili niche Durga Mahishasuram ardini.
Each karna face displays a niche containing a
Dikpala (guardian of the direction).
Over the jangha, the v arandika (cornice
zone), typically, consists of a pair of kapotali
m ouldings with a tulasangraha (joist-end
m oulding) in between. In the bhadras and the
kapili, the top gavaksha of the udgam a
penetrates the lower kapotali – the beginnings
Ashapuri:
Resurrecting a
Medieval
Temple Site
339
of an upward growth of the bhadra elem ent
into the base of the shikhara (cf. Fig. 24.10 ).
The shikhara has four bhum is (levels). Five
would be m ore usual for a pancharatha plan:
com parable tem ple designs at Terahi (Shiva
tem ple) and Um ri (Surya tem ple) have
respectively five an d seven bhum is. Yet the
profile is elegant and not at all stunted. The
pratilatas, like the karnas, are articulated with
am alaka-topped kutas, giving a ‘double
venukosha’ (Fig. 24.5). Construction is in eight
courses of even height throughout, each
com prising two m ouldings. While m any of the
karnas are m ade from two blocks, with a
vertical joint, the latas and pratilatas are
carved together from single large blocks. The
ghanta at the sum m it of the shikhara would
have consisted of the usual griva (neck),
am alaka, padm ashirshaka (in verted lotus
m oulding) and kalasha (pot-finial).
Art, Icon and
Architecture
in South Asia
340
Fig. 24.5. Temple 17, course from lata/pratilatas.
TEMPLE 5
Tem ple 5, belonging to around the end of the
ninth century or the beginning of the tenth, is
am ong the m ost lavish of the Pratihara
tem ples at Ashapuri. Only around twenty
percent of the stone fragm ents from this
tem ple have so far been located. Others m ay
com e to light in different parts of the site, but
reassem bly does not seem at present to be a
viable option. However, the design of the
Fig. 24.6. Temple 5, Ashapuri, pitha, south.
m ulaprasada (shrine proper) can be worked
out with a fair degree of certainty; and
sections of the tem ple could be put together to
m ake sense for the visitor. The carving retains
m uch of the sensuousness of the three-
cen turies old m ain stream cen tral In dian
Nagara tradition that created it, while arriving
at an unprecedented degree of proliferation in
its saptaratha (seven -projection ) plan ,
deducible from the elaborate pitha, which has
survived reason ably in tact (Fig. 24.6). This
west-facin g tem ple would have com prised the
 Ashapuri:
Resurrecting a
Medieval
Temple Site

341

sam e basic elem ents as in Tem ple 17 –

m ukham andapa, antarala and garbhagriha.
The exact size of the garbhagriha (cella) and
skandha (shoulder platform ) are not known,
but can be estim ated with reasonable
accuracy on the basis of com parative
exam ples an d textual prescription s.
The bottom layer of a beautiful cusped
ceilin g survives from the m ukham an dapa,
together with the third, innerm ost layer. The
porch superstructure as shown in the
drawings is largely conjectural at this stage,
but it m ust be layered to accom m odate the
ceiling, and it m ay eventually be possible to
locate the ribbed ghanta (‘bell’) that fits. A
lintel and a pair of door jam bs (Fig. 24.7) fit
together to m ake a superb doorway.
In the design of the m ulaprasada
(Figs. 24.8– 24.9), Tem ple 5 is one of the
m onum ents at Ashapuri that begin to fill
another of the gaps in the architectural history
of central India, beyond the story of the
em ergent Bhum ija. This is the tim e when the
Fig. 24.7. Temple 5, right hand door jamb, with Jamuna.
Nagara tradition in this region begins to
experim en t with com posite tem ple form s. In
parallel with sim ilar developm ents in western bhadra to create a lesser tem ple form
India, the unitary Latina form of Nagara em erging at the centre of the whole.
tem ple proliferates in to com posite As the tem ple was slightly set back from
(anekandaka) form s from the second half of the edge of the platform , it is not possible to
the n in th cen tury, even tually developin g in to determ ine the details of the plan directly from
the fully blown Shekhari form , fam iliar at the pitha, but they can be deduced from the
Khajuraho. Evidence of the transitional stage dim en sion s of the various survivin g pieces
is rare in central India, the Maladevi tem ple, from the vedibandha, the jangha and so forth.
Gyaraspur, bein g the earliest exam ple in tact, The v edibandha com prises the usual kum bha,
from perhaps a little after the m iddle of the kalasha and kapotali m ouldings, crowned by a
ninth century. The rem ains of Tem ple 5, and lush m anchika. In the pratibhadra, the
others at Ashapuri of a sim ilar late-ninth/ kapotali is replaced by a tulapitha, as in the
early-ten th cen tury date, con tain segm en ts of pratiratha of Tem ple 17. Every projection has
m iniature shikharas. Tem ple 5 turns out not a pedim ented niche. In the jangha, the
to be truly anekandaka, as the m iniature projections are fronted by niches. The (now
shikharas that belong to it fit in the jangha em pty) deep one in the bhadra and those in
(wall) as a crowning to the bhadra (central the karnas have chhady a canopies. No doubt,
projection ), rather than clusterin g aroun d the Dikpalas were housed in the karnas (corner
base of the m ain shikhara. Thus, it exhibits a projection s), wh ile in term ediate projection s
beautiful precursor of the Shekhari concept in house heaven ly m aiden s. The pratibhadra
the form of a m iniature shikhara crowning the takes the form of a ghatapallava pillar, like
Art, Icon and
Architecture
in South Asia

342

Fig. 24.8. Temple 5, reconstructed plan and south elevation.

 Ashapuri:
Resurrecting a
Medieval
Temple Site

343

Surviving pieces from the ascending chain of

karnakutas (corner pavilions) from the
shikhara exhibit a sequence of dim inishing
sizes that point to a five-bhum i (storey)
com position. This would give a height of 1.0 7
tim es the width (plausible though a little lower
than would be expected) and a radius of about
three tim es the width (trigunasutra). The
interm ediate facets (pratikarnas and
pratilatas) follow the sam e coursing as the
karnas. However, the central lata spine has
wider courses, an d con sequen tly a larger-
scale jala (network) of gavakshas. This is not
typical, an d would have caused a vertical
break in the structure, difficult to overcom e
with the usual iron clam ps.

THE LATER PHASES

Am ong the stone fragm ents are kutas, close in
date and style to Tem ple 5, in the form of
m iniature shikharas that clearly belong at the
corners in a girdle of pavilions at the base of
the shikhara of the tem ple. In other words,
Fig. 24.9. Temple 5, reconstructed west elevation.
they belong to tem ples that are anekandaka,
though not yet Shekhari (with urahshringas or
the sole pratiratha of m any ninth-century
half-shikharas over the bhadra). At least one
tem ples in this tradition (e.g. Surya tem ple,
such tem ple at the site is of the next stylistic
Madkheda, Shiva tem ple, Terahi). Along the
phase, firm ly into the tenth century. A
top of the jangha runs the usual kinkinikajala
distinctly different character has arisen by this
(band of bells).
tim e. It is a little less plastic, m ore linear,
Of the deities from the jangha, only a
ten din g to leave orn am en t sten cil-like rather
niche slab housing Vishnu (?) can be located at
than fleshing it out. Its unfailing hallm ark lies
present. It seem s to fit the jangha of the kapili,
in the shape of the gavakshas, squarer at the
and to have been crowned by a m iniature
shoulders, and with the flat tops of the ears
shikhara that would have term inated in the
protruding out to the lim it of their bounding
varandika. Now that the niche sizes are
grid (Fig. 24.11).3 This stylistic shift appears to
known, it is possible that som e of the other
have been worked out within the long-
deities – the three m ain ones from the central
established Nagara workshops. But not in
niches, along with the Dikpalas – m ay be
isolation: as m uch as the progressive
identified am ong the pieces housed in
proliferation of aedicular tem ple com pon en ts,
m u seu m s.
this latest transm utation of the horseshoe arch
The varandika follows the sam e design as
m otif takes hold across the varied regional
in Tem ple 17, and is penetrated by the
idiom s of central and western India, from
rem arkable m in iature shikhara that com pletes
Khajuraho to Kiradu. The Nagara schools
the projectin g shrin e form in g the cen trepiece
continue to develop, as seen in the tem ples of
of the whole com position (Fig. 24.10 ).
Art, Icon and
Architecture
in South Asia

344

Fig. 24.10. Temple 5, miniature shikhara over the bhadra lower Deccan, and links with the south are
penetrating the base of the lata. evident in m any aspects of Bhum ija
m onum ents, including the pillar type used
the Chandellas and Kachchhapaghatas to the ubiquitously, the v edi m ouldin g form in g the
north of Malwa, and of the western Indian skandha platform at the top of the shikhara,
schools that coalesced in western India into the form of the m ahanasi at the base of the
the widespread Maru-Gurjara style. lata spine (Fig. 24.12), and indeed the whole
The next shift is different. While the bhadra elem ent of which this is the crown,
Nagara schools go on developing the new term ed the shala in the
‘Bhum ija tradition’, as it m ay be called, though Sam aranganasutradhara. That text – like
not isolated from those strands, shows a
distinct character that gives the im pression of
havin g arisen through deliberate choice an d
through con tacts with m ore southerly,
Deccani practices. The already known Bhum ija
tem ples of central India are m anifestly the
creations of guilds or workshops specialising
in that m ode. Moulding shapes are precise,
m an y with pron oun ced double flexion s, an d
with a certain hardness counterbalanced by a
linear, graphic quality bound up with the
process of drawing on the stone before cutting
and carving it. This general character also Fig. 24.11. Udgama from a tenth-century temple
takes hold during the eleventh century in the at Ashapuri.
 Ashapuri:
Resurrecting a
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Fig. 24.12. Part of one of the mahanasis over a bhadra m y earlier sense that there we can see
from the Bhutanatha temple, Ashapuri. som ething of a transition. The style as well as
the form of the Bhum ija m onum ents is
Bhojpur, another of Bhoja’s m onum ental different from the start, though it is difficult to
enterprises – also specifies for given Bhum ija unravel whether this was through a local effort
tem ple types that particular elem en ts should to transform the way things were done,
be either Nagara or Dravida.4 The Dravida (or assim ilating foreign influences and perhaps
dravidakarm a) kuta is widespread in Bhum ija with an influx of artists from elsewhere, or
tem ples, often visible as a constituent elem ent
of the kutas (m iniature shikharas) crowning
the kutastam bhas. Whereas the kutastam bhas
of the early Bhum ija tem ple at Bilota are
crowned by m iniature Latina shikharas, those
of the Bhutanatha (Fig. 24.13) already have
com posite kutas, with lesser, dim in utive kutas
on the corn ers that m ay have been con ceived
as Dravida.
At Ashapuri, the Bhum ija wave arrived
som etim e around the last years of the tenth
century. Regardless of whether this was where
that wave was set in m otion, a fascinating
aspect of the site is that it rolls out am ong the
plentiful currents of the continuing Nagara Fig. 24.13. Fragment of kutastambhas from a Bhumija
tradition. However, I am beginning to doubt shikhara at Ashapuri, probably the Bhutanatha.
Art, Icon and
Architecture
in South Asia
346
Fig. 24.14. Part of a lata from a Bhumija shikhara,
probably from the Bhutanatha.
whether the Bhum ija works could som ehow be
the products of an entirely new school. But
where would they have com e from ? H owever,
it m ay have happened, the sensuous,
vivacious sculpture, an d a delight in lin earity
(Fig. 24.14) an d crisp, curvaceous m ouldin gs,
give the creations of Ashapuri at the turn of
the eleventh century a freshness and life that
subsequent Bhum ija m onum ents rarely live up
to. Bhojpur, in its sheer scale, is inevitably
drier in quality.
The Bhum ija works so far discovered
am ong the tem ple bases and fragm ents at
Ashapuri and neighbouring Bilota are the
sm all one at the latter site, the large
Bhutanatha and two adjacent shrines, and
an other sm all tem ple presen tly outside the
gate of the Bhutanatha com pound. All are
orthogon al, n o doubt created before the
stellate possibilities of the Bhum ija m ode were
developed, although star shapes begin to
appear in the ceilings of the Bhutanatha. The
earliest of the Bhum ija m onum ents seem s to
be the exquisite little Bilota tem ple. Of the
Bhutanatha, the pitha rem ains (Fig. 24.15),
with som e pieces of the khura (hoof) and of the
lower part of the separate kum bha. The plan of
the Bhutanatha, visible in the pitha, is of an
east-facing tem ple with the m ain shrine to the
west, and with two half-shrines projecting
from the sides of the m andapa to the north
and south. This alm ost trikuta arrangem ent is
one of the aspects redolent of Deccani
connections. Of these southern links, the m ost
rem arkable m anifestation is found in
fragm ents, probably from the Bhutanatha, of
Dravida kutas (Fig. 24.16). Though not what a
south Indian sthapati would recognise as
Dravida, these are far from the ultra-stylised

Fig. 24.15. Pitha of the Bhutanatha, west side.
dravida karm akutas found in m ost Bhum ija
tem ples, which hardly an yon e recogn ises as
Dravida. Over the kapota, as seen in the m ost
intact of these fragm ents found so far, instead
of the usual curly leaf passing for the prati/
v y alam ala m ouldin g—what the
Sam aranganasutradhara calls the m akera—
we see a clutch of m agnificent, fully-fledged
m akaras frothing out over a jewelled prati or
floor-plan k m ouldin g. 5
Only after such a moment could the
Sam aranganasutradhara have been
conceived, with its awareness of the range of
architectural form s and regional varieties, of
the hitherto predom inant Nagara traditions,
and of the Dravida too, and with the desire both
to incorporate and to surpass these in a newly
created form, the Bhumija. Chapter 65, on
Bhumija temples, stands out for its coherence
and its complexity. With an invented form, the
text did not need to incorporate passages from
venerated earlier texts. Without m any built
Ashapuri:
Resurrecting a
Medieval
Temple Site
347
examples to draw upon, it could lay out the
possibilities inherent in the system . Surviving
Bhum ija tem ples are relatively close to the
prescriptions of the Sam aranganasutradhara,
no doubt because the theory and practice
developed side by side. But the Bhumija works
at Ashapuri were alm ost certainly built before
the text was written, and would have loomed
large in the minds of those who were working
out the theory.
While hundreds of fragm ents from the
Bhutanatha tem ple have been laid out at the
site, m any m ore rem ain strewn down the ghat
and into the tank, accessible only when the
tank is dry. A good season of salvage
archaeology is required before the jigsaw
puzzle can be solved for this jewel in the crown
of the con servation project. To un derstan d the
significance of each puzzled out tem ple, it is
necessary to reflect not only on the site as a
whole, but on the m uch larger picture that is
the architectural history of cen tral In dia, an d
of In dian tem ple architecture m ore broadly.
In turn, each newly revealed tem ple design
Art, Icon and
Architecture
in South Asia
348
Fig. 24.16. Dravida kuta from a Bhumija temple at
Ashapuri, probably the Bhutanatha.
adds another piece to that larger, still
unfinished puzzle.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful the INTACH UK Trust for a grant
to work on the architecture of Ashapuri and to
make a comparative study, as well as to World
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1 . Adam Hardy, Theory and Practice in the
Tem ple Architecture of Medieval India:
Bhoja’s Sam aranganasutradhara and the
Bhojpur Line Draw ings, New Delhi, IGNCA
wit h Dev Pu b lica t ion s, 2 0 14 .
2 . See h t t p :/ / www.p r a sa d a .or g.u k/ t em p les-in -
a sh a p u r i/ in d ex a n d h t t p :/ / www.wm f.or g/
p r oject / m a d h ya -p r a d esh -cu lt u r a l-h er it a ge-
p r oject
Monuments Fund and the Directorate of
Archaeology, Archives and Museum s, Govt. of
Madhya Pradesh, for the opportunity to
participate in the Madhya Pradesh Cultural
Heritage Project. Thanks are due to Ajay Khare,
Vishakha Kawathekar and other colleagues at
the School of Planning and Architecture for all
their collaboration in the adventure.
3 . Ad am H ar d y, ‘Par ts an d Wh oles: Th e Stor y
of th e H orsesh oe Arch ’, in Adam H ardy
(ed.), The Tem ple in South Asia, London,
BASAS, 2 0 0 7.
4 . Adam H ardy, Theory an d Practice, Chapter
5.
5 . Th e Am b a r a n a t h a t em p le, Am b a r a n a t h ,
Mah ar ash t r a (10 6 0 CE ) h as st r an ge, sn akey
m akaras in this position .