Dashavatara temple of Deogarh

Also called: Deogarh temple, Dashavatara temple, Deogarh · Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 7 "The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity"; Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"

Meaning

The Dashavatara temple of Deogarh is a stone temple to Vishnu from the Gupta age, c. 5th century CE. It stands at Deogarh, in Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh, and is one of the earliest Indian temples that still has its shikhara (a tall tower over the shrine room) [2]. It matters because it shows the moment when the small, flat-roofed shrine began to grow a tower. Its relief panels, including the famous Vishnu lying on the serpent Sheshnag, are some of the finest Gupta sculpture.

Explanation

Background: why a temple to Vishnu's avatars?

• Bhakti grew in the Gupta age. Bhakti means loving devotion to one god of your choice.
• In Vaishnavism, Vishnu is the chief god.

• The devotee needed no priest and no Vedic sacrifice, so worship spread among ordinary people.

• The avatar idea. An avatar is a form the god takes when he comes down to earth.

• Vishnu comes down to save the world whenever evil threatens to win.

• Local gods were accepted as forms of Vishnu. This joined many local cults into one tradition.

• The ten avatars (dashavatara) became the standard set: Matsya (fish), Kurma (tortoise), Varaha (boar), Narasimha (man-lion), Vamana (dwarf), Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki [3].

• The Puranas gave the stories behind each image. They were compiled by Brahmanas by about the mid-first millennium CE, in simple Sanskrit verse. Without these stories, a worshipper could not "read" the panels.

Name and plan

• Name. It is called "Dashavatara" after the ten incarnations of Vishnu shown on it and a rock-cut well nearby [2].
• Plan (as described by ASI). The temple is square and has three parts [2]:
• Garbhagriha: the "womb-house", the dark shrine room where the image stands.
• Antarala: a small passage between the porch and the shrine.

• Ardhamandapa: a half-porch at the front.

• Roof. The roof over the garbhagriha and the ardhamandapa has collapsed, so both now stand open to the sky [2].

• Shikhara. It is one of the earliest temples that still has its shikhara [2]. This is the step after the flat-roofed shrine. Most textbooks treat it as an early example of the Nagara style (the north Indian temple style with a curved tower).
• Material and patron. It is built of stone and belongs to the Gupta period. The study note names no single Gupta king as its builder.

The sculpted panels

Three large relief panels survive [2]:

• Vishnu on Shesha (Sheshashayi Vishnu). Vishnu lies asleep on the coils of the many-hooded serpent Sheshnag. This is the temple's most famous panel.
• Gajendra-moksha. Vishnu rescues the elephant king (Gajendra) from a crocodile. It shows the god who saves the devotee who calls him.
• Nara-Narayana. The two sages Nara and Narayana do penance (tapas, hard meditation).
• How to read them. Sculptors gave clues to who each figure is:
• ayudhas, the weapons or holy objects held in the hands, such as the conch, discus, mace and lotus for Vishnu;
• headdresses and ornaments;
• posture, such as reclining for Sheshashayi Vishnu.

Place in the growth of the temple

• The earliest temples (c. 3rd century CE) were a small square garbhagriha with one doorway.
• Next came the shikhara, then sculpted outer walls.
• Still later came assembly halls, huge walls, gateways and water works (tanks, wells, drains).
• Deogarh stands at the shikhara and sculpted-wall stage. It comes after flat-roofed shrines like Lad Khan at Aihole and before the big temple complexes [2][4].

Time, place and evidence

• Period. NCERT dates it to the 5th century CE. ASI/IGNCA material places it at "the beginning of the 6th century" [2]. Both dates fall in the Gupta age. Use the NCERT date (5th century) in the exam.
• Dynasty. The Guptas of north India. No single ruler is firmly named as its builder.
• Place. Deogarh, Lalitpur district, Uttar Pradesh. It stands on the bank of the Betwa river, which curves around it on three sides [2].
• Heritage status. The Gupta temples of north India, Deogarh included, are on UNESCO's Tentative List for World Heritage status [2]. It is not yet a World Heritage Site.
• How we know about it.
• The standing building itself, with its surviving shikhara and plan [2].
• The relief panels, read with the help of the Puranas.
• ASI/IGNCA studies of the Gupta temple at Deogarh, and the UNESCO tentative-list nomination [2].
• NCERT Class 7 (Ch 7, "The Gupta Era") and Class 12 (Ch 4, "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings").

Don't confuse with

• Aihole (Karnataka): its famous panel is Varaha, Vishnu as a boar lifting the earth goddess. It is an Early Chalukya site of over 100 temples, not a Gupta one. Deogarh's famous panel is Vishnu on Sheshnag [4].
• Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu): its famous panel is Durga killing Mahishasura in the Mahishasuramardini cave. It is a Pallava site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Deogarh is a Gupta temple and only on the Tentative List [5].
• Lad Khan temple, Aihole: a flat-roofed temple with no shikhara. Deogarh is famous because it does keep its shikhara [2][4].
• Dashavatara (the ten avatars): this is the list of Vishnu's ten forms [3]. The "Dashavatara temple" is the building at Deogarh named after that list.

Prelims Hooks

• Deogarh – Uttar Pradesh – Gupta age. Dashavatara temple, on the bank of the Betwa river [2].
• Famous panel: Vishnu reclining on Sheshnag (Sheshashayi Vishnu). The other two surviving panels are Gajendra-moksha and Nara-Narayana penance [2].
• One of the earliest temples with a surviving shikhara [2].
• Plan: garbhagriha + antarala + ardhamandapa. The roof over the garbhagriha and ardhamandapa has collapsed [2].
• Panel–site pairs (common trap): Sheshnag Vishnu → Deogarh. Varaha → Aihole. Durga–Mahishasura → Mahabalipuram.
• Heritage trap: Gupta temples of north India, including Deogarh, are on UNESCO's Tentative List. They are not inscribed World Heritage Sites [2].

Mains Points

• Deogarh marks a stage in how the Indian temple grew.
• First came a plain square garbhagriha with one doorway (c. 3rd century CE).
• Deogarh added a shikhara and sculpted outer walls [2].

• Halls, gateways and water works came later. Compare flat-roofed Lad Khan at Aihole → shikhara at Deogarh → big temple complexes [2][4].

• Art put bhakti and Puranic stories into stone.

• Panels like Gajendra-moksha show Vishnu as the saviour who answers the devotee's call.
• The Puranas were read aloud to everybody, including women and Shudras, so ordinary worshippers could understand these images.

• The temple shows the move from Vedic sacrifice to image worship based on devotion.

• Art carried the king's message. Gupta patrons used avatar panels to link kingship with the god who protects the world from evil. Pallava kings did the same at Mahabalipuram [2][5]. Note the dating debate when you write about it: NCERT says 5th century, ASI says early 6th century [2].

Related concepts

• Puranic Hinduism
• Vaishnavism
• Avatar
• Dashavatara
• Varaha
• Vasudeva-Krishna
• Shaivism
• Linga
• Garbhagriha
• Antarala

Read more

• Puranic Hinduism and the first temples