UPSC Prelims 2021 Q31: Chausath Yogini Temple, Morena — Explained
With reference to Chausath Yogini Temple situated near Morena, consider the following statements:
1. It is a circular temple built during the reign of Kachchhapaghata Dynasty.
2. It is the only circular temple built in India.
3. It was meant to promote the Vaishnava cult in the region.
4. Its design has given rise to a popular belief that it was the inspiration behind the Indian Parliament building.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
- 1 and 2
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 4
- 2, 3 and 4
Answer: (c) 1 and 4
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: correct — The temple at Mitaoli village in Morena district, Madhya Pradesh, is a ring of small cells built around an open circular courtyard, with a shrine to Shiva in the middle. An inscription dated 1323 CE (Vikram Samvat 1383) says the Kachchhapaghata king Devapala (c. 1055–1075) built it. So it is dated to the 11th century, under the Kachchhapaghatas.
- 2: incorrect — Most yogini temples in India are circular and roofless, so this one is not unique. Hirapur near Bhubaneswar and Ranipur-Jharial in Balangir district, both in Odisha, are circular. So is the Chausath Yogini temple at Bhedaghat near Jabalpur, which the ASI describes as a circular cloister. The word "only" makes the statement false.
- 3: incorrect — Yogini temples belong to the Tantric worship of the 64 yoginis, female deities linked to the Goddess (Devi), alongside Shiva. Vishnu has nothing to do with them. At Mitaoli the central shrine is dedicated to Shiva, and the temple is also called Ekattarso Mahadeva. Nothing links it to promoting a Vaishnava cult.
- 4: correct — Many people say the round, colonnaded Parliament House in New Delhi, designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, copied the Mitaoli temple. There is no documentary evidence for this. The statement itself says only that a "popular belief" exists, and that is true.
How to eliminate
The word "only" in Statement 2 is the way in. If you have heard of the Hirapur yogini temple in Odisha, or know that yogini temples are typically circular and open to the sky, you can drop Statement 2. That removes three of the four options and leaves only the pair of Statements 1 and 4. Without that knowledge, look at Statement 4's wording. It claims only that a popular belief exists, which is hard to make false, and the Parliament comparison is a well-known story about this temple. Statement 3 also sounds wrong to anyone who knows that yogini worship is Tantric and goddess-centred, not Vaishnava. Statement 1 is the one fact you have to know: Mitaoli is linked to the Kachchhapaghata dynasty, through an inscription naming King Devapala. Remember the pair Mitaoli – Kachchhapaghata.
Know more
Yogini temples are a small group of shrines from roughly the 9th to 12th century, found mainly in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. They honour the 64 yoginis (chausath means sixty-four), goddesses of Tantric worship tied to Devi and Shiva.
Most ordinary temples have a closed sanctum (garbhagriha) topped by a shikhara. Yogini temples are usually different:
- roofless (hypaethral), open to the sky;
- circular, with a ring of small cells, each meant for one yogini image;
- built around an open courtyard, often with a central shrine to Shiva or Bhairava.
| Temple | State | Plan | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mitaoli (Ekattarso Mahadeva) | Madhya Pradesh (Morena) | Circular | Kachchhapaghata king Devapala; open central Shiva shrine |
| Bhedaghat | Madhya Pradesh (Jabalpur) | Circular | Above the Narmada; more than 64 images |
| Hirapur | Odisha (Khordha) | Circular | Small and well preserved, about 15 km from Bhubaneswar |
| Ranipur-Jharial | Odisha (Balangir) | Circular | Large open ring of cells |
| Khajuraho | Madhya Pradesh (Chhatarpur) | Rectangular | Granite; one of the oldest at Khajuraho |
Khajuraho is the main exception to the circular plan. That makes it a useful counter-example if a question claims every yogini temple is round.
The Kachchhapaghatas ruled the Gwalior–Morena region and started out as feudatories of other powers, the Chandelas among them. The Sas-Bahu temple at Gwalior is linked to the same dynasty.
In 2025 India added a serial nomination of Chausath Yogini Temples, covering sites in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, to its UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List. So the topic may come up in exams again.
In the news
The question came in 2021, as construction of the new Parliament building in Delhi was under way. That revived the popular story that the old circular Parliament House was modelled on the Mitaoli temple.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Samvidhan Sadan: Samvidhan Sadan is the old circular Parliament House, the building that Statement 4's popular belief is about.