The unearthing of buried objects of art and architecture is an important aspect of archaeology and art history which has not received adequate importance in India. Accounts of historians and oral traditions account for the burial of hundreds of Hindu temples including the sacred temple complex of Rudramahalaya in Sidhpur in Gujarat.
Buried Temples in India: The Case of Sidhpur
Nalini Rao
The unearthing of buried objects of art and architecture is an important aspect of archaeology and art history which has not received adequate importance in India. Accounts of historians and oral traditions account for the burial of hundreds of Hindu temples including the sacred temple complex of Rudramahalaya in Sidhpur in Gujarat.
Sidhpur, 64 miles north of Ahmedabad, near Patan, is said to have contained the old the Rudramahalaya complex built by Sidhraj Jayasimha in 12th C. A.D. The temple destroyed partly by Ulugh Khan in 1297-98 and partly by Ahmed Shah in 1415 contained innumerable relief sculptures and ramifications of an elaborate temple, parts of which have been exposed by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The paper describes and analyzes the images in its architectural context in order to understand the use, function and social significance of the religious images and of the institution during the contemporary period. It will describe the form and meaning of the images in the garbhagriha of the Siva complex, the importance of the royal images in its sacred area, those below the surrounding wall and those under the Qibla in the Islamic Masjid erected above the temple. It will look into the iconoclastic reasons for their destruction, removal and burial by an opposing value system.
For such a study it is important to look at the literary sources in the opposing system, the Hindu oral traditions that kept alive the sanctity and devotion to the temple site, related Hindu sites where ancient temple complexes have been excavated and ultimately the reasons for its unearthing by the Survey.
It is necessary to narrate the process of the exposition of the temple finds in relation to the disputes between the ASI and the authorities and how the richness of artistic finds and valuable ancient Hindu art works have been the victims of the Trustees of the Masjid.
The judgment of the Archaeological Survey of India to discover India's buried cultural treasures in Sidhpur led to the impressive findings here which are masterpieces in world art. But the process was suffused with arguments in the court and tensed with popular risings. However, it is important to realize that in the field of history and art, adherence to study ancient material culture is obligatory as these are historical documents and history is sacred and too valuable to be ignored.
In order to reveal artistic finds that tell the story of its society and culture, it is a very important that the story be told without fear so that artistic appreciation and understanding of its deeper meaning and content can lead to a sense of cultural identity and pride. Art is the story of the values, dreams and struggles of man which can inspire generations towards a higher fulfillment in life.
About the Author:
The author is a Professor of World Art at the Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
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