The Gupta Temple At Deograh

$25
Item Code: NAF533
Author: Pt. Madho Sarup Vats
Publisher: ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA
Language: English
Edition: 1999
Pages: 86 (Throughout B/W Illustrations
Cover: Hardcover
Fully insured
Fully insured
Shipped to 153 countries
Shipped to 153 countries
More than 1M+ customers worldwide
More than 1M+ customers worldwide
100% Made in India
100% Made in India
23 years in business
23 years in business
Book Description
Preface

The Gupta temple at Deogarh has always attracted attention since the time of General Cunningham. In 1917-18 Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni, the then Superintendent of the Hindu and Buddhist Monuments, Northern Circle, excavated its terraced plinth which was buried in debris and also exposed the remains of a few other shrines within the rubble enclosure constructed round it by the Public Works Department. At each corner of the plinth round the main temple was recovered a small shrine, the five together constituting one of the earliest examples of a paiichayatana. It was already known to contain litchi representations from the Ramayana, and I have now been able to recover a number of panels connected with the life of Sri Krishna a and a few legends from the I Mahabharata. Originally, a large number of sculptures in two tiers were built into the plinth, but, of these, only a small fraction has survived. 'The present collection has been got together from the temple com- pound, some houses in the village, or exhumed from the sloping ground at the foot of the adjoining hill and also from a piled up heap under a banyan tree in front of the Forest Rest House at Deogarh. The excellence of the temple struck me on my first visit in 1927-28, and to rescue the sculptures I resolved to build here a small go down to its east. Accordingly, the go down was erected. in the year 1928, but the heavy architectural pieces of this and other later shrines within the compound Were arranged round the temple itself.

The Gupta temple, which contains some of the finest sculptures, is a gem of architecture ; its intrinsic merit and beauty will, I am sure, be greatly appreciated by all lovers of art. It embodies the most vivid and virile expression of early Gupta art which did not lose its vitality till the end of the 6th century A. D. Moreover, it is a very important example of the beginning of sikhara, which was evolved by building a multi-storied, straight-edged pyramid in receding tiers. At this stage it was ponderous and heavy and had not yet developed that graceful, tall, curvilinear spire which was perfected in the early mediaeval period. I had long cherished the desire of writing on this temple, but the late Mr. Sahni, who had excavated here, intended publishing a Memoir on it. For a number of years after his death I had nothing to do with Deogarh and, therefore, could not begin writing. The drawings have necessarily taken time. Much of the conjectural restoration given in PI. V is based on what actually survives on one or another side of the temple facade and for the rest I had to draw upon the profiles of contemporary temples given on either side of its own door-frame. It may, therefore, be hoped that the restoration, based as it is mostly on internal evidence, will be found to give a close approximation of a sikrhara temple of the Early Gupta Period.

I have great pleasure in recording my grateful thanks to Dr. V.S. Agarwala superintendent central Asian antiquities Museum and Mr. C. Sivaramamurti Superintendent Archaeological section Indian museum Calcutta for several valuable suggestions which I have incorporated to Mr. A. Ghosh for help in making the plates and reading through the manuscript to messrs. Satkauri Biswas murarilal arora and rama Krishna conservation assistants who assisted me in the conservation of the temple to Mr. Gaurishankar draftsman for the excellent drawings prepared by him and to messres. Devi Dayal Mathur Mangat Rai Mehta and S.G. Tewari for the photographs.

 

Contents

 

Chapter 1 Topography 1-3
Chapter 2 Temple Architecture during the Gupta period 4-11
Chapter 3 Detailed description of the temple 12-30
Chapter 4 Art 31-42
Chapter 5 Conservation 42
  Bibliography 43
  Index 44

Sample Pages













Frequently Asked Questions
  • Q. What locations do you deliver to ?
    A. Exotic India delivers orders to all countries having diplomatic relations with India.
  • Q. Do you offer free shipping ?
    A. Exotic India offers free shipping on all orders of value of $30 USD or more.
  • Q. Can I return the book?
    A. All returns must be postmarked within seven (7) days of the delivery date. All returned items must be in new and unused condition, with all original tags and labels attached. To know more please view our return policy
  • Q. Do you offer express shipping ?
    A. Yes, we do have a chargeable express shipping facility available. You can select express shipping while checking out on the website.
  • Q. I accidentally entered wrong delivery address, can I change the address ?
    A. Delivery addresses can only be changed only incase the order has not been shipped yet. Incase of an address change, you can reach us at help@exoticindia.com
  • Q. How do I track my order ?
    A. You can track your orders simply entering your order number through here or through your past orders if you are signed in on the website.
  • Q. How can I cancel an order ?
    A. An order can only be cancelled if it has not been shipped. To cancel an order, kindly reach out to us through help@exoticindia.com.
Add a review
Have A Question

For privacy concerns, please view our Privacy Policy

Book Categories