AWANTISWAMIN TEMPLE RUINS OF KASHMIR

                     

WE VISITED AWANTISWAMIN TEMPLE RUINS IN JUNE 2009 WHEN A GROUP OF TOURISTS FROM GUJRAT WERE ALSO PRESENT IN THE COMPLEX.

" THIS IS A PANDAVA TEMPLE AND FIVE THOUSAND YEARS OLD. PANDAVA BUILT MANY TEMPLES IN KASHMIR . YOU CAN SEE SIMILAR TEMPLES IN MATTAN AND PATTAN "

SAID THE GUIDE TO INQUISITIVE TOURISTS WHO HAD BEEN BROUGHT TO THE TEMPLE RUINS IN A BUS FROM SRINAGAR AND HAD TO PROCEED TO PAHALGHAM..
THIS SPECIFIC ORIGIN OF THE TEMPLE RUINS OF AWANTIPORA WAS NARRATED TO ME NOT ONLY BY THE TEA STALL OWNER ON THE ROAD AT AWANTIPORA BUT ALSO BY SOME OF MY FRIENDS AS WELL .

THERE ARE TWO TEMPLE RUINS IN AWANTIPORA LOCATED WITHIN A DISTANCE OF ABOUT I KM. IN CASE WE ARE GOING FROM SRINAGAR TO JAMMU ,THE FIRST TEMPLE RUIN ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD AT AWANTIPORA IS THE AWANTISWAMIN TEMPLE COMPLEX.AWANTIPORA LIES AT DISTANCE OF JUST 30 KMS FROM SRINAGR CITY AND THE RUINS CONTINUE TO BE THE IMPOSING STRUCTURES IN THE TOWN. THE TEMPLE IS A VAISHNAVA TEMPLE BUILT BY KING AWANTIVARMAN (855 - 883 AD ). THE TEMPLE HAS BEEN BUILT ON A TWO TIERED BASE IN THE CENTRE OF A PAVED COURTYARD ENCLOSED BY A COLLONADED PERISTYLE . AFTER SUN TEMLE OF MARTAND PLATEAU IN ANANTNAG DISTRICT , THIS TEMPLE COMPLEX IS THE MOST IMPOSING MONUMENT OF KASHMIR . THE ENTRANCE TO THE TEMPLE IS LOCATED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEST WALL AND IS APPROACHED BY A FLIGHT OF STEPS. THE WALLS OF THE ENTRANCE ARE SCUPLTED INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY WITH DESIGNS AND IMAGES OF GODS IN A BEAUTIFYL PATTERN AND STYLE. THE VAIKUNTHA VISHNU IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN LAID IN THE SANCTUM SANCTORUM OF THE CENTRAL TEMPLE WHICH IS COVERED BY A BOUNDARY WALL HAVING BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED STONE PILLARS WITH IMAGES AND RELIEFS DONE IN AN ARTISTIC MANNER .THE LAYOUT OF THIS VAISHNAVA TEMPLE IS SOME WHAT SIMILAR TO THE SUN TEMPLE OF MARTAND PLATEAU. BUDHIST INFLUENCE IN THE ARCHITECTURE AND LAYOUT IS STARKLY VISIBLE .EVEN AFTER 1200 YEARS APPROXIMATELY , SOME OF THE IMAGES SCLUPTED ARE DISTINCTLY VISIBLE EVEN TO THE NAKED EYE.THOUGH THE TEMPLE IS DEDICATED TO VISHNU , IMAGES OF SHIVA CAN ALSO BE SEEN SCLUPTED ON PILLARS AND OTHER STONES IN THE COMPLEX. THE OUTER BOUNDARY WALL OR THE COURTYARD HAS ALSO FOUR SHRINES IN ITS FOUR CORNERS . PILLARS AS TALL AS 12 FEET WITH A DIAMETER OF 3 FEET IN SINGLE PIECE HAVE BEEN USED IN THE OUTER COURTYARD . IN ALL PROBABILITIES STONES FROM ATHWAJAN AREA HAVE BEEN USED IN CONSTRUCTION OF THIS GRAND VAISHNAVA TEMPLE OF KASHMIR . USE OF ELEPHANTS FOR TRANSPORTATION OF STONES IS CONFIRMED BY MANY HISTORIANS .KING AWANTIVARMAN SHIFTED THE CAPITAL OF HIS KINGDOM TO AWANTIPORA . DURING HIS RULE KASHMIR SAW PEACE AND ONE OF HIS ABLEST ENGINEERS NAMED SUYYA , CONSTRUCTED EMBANKMENTS , BARRAGES AND DIVERTED THE COURSE OF THE RIVER VITASTA TO SAVE SRINAGAR CITY AND KASHMIR FROM THE FURY OF RECURRING FLOODS . THE RUINS LIE CLOSE TO DARGAH OF SUFI SAINT SYED MANTAQI.

I ALSO WANTED TO GO TO THE OTHER TEMPLE RUINS NEARBY BUT IT WAS GETTING LATE . WE COULD SEE BIRDS RETURNING AFTER A DAY'S HECTIC SEARCH FOR FOOD SO VITAL FOR EXISTENCE. THE ARMY JAWANS ON THE ROAD WERE PACKING UP AFTER ENSURING THAT THE LAST CONVOY HAS PASSED OFF . MINI BUSES AND TATA SUMO VEHICLES FERRYING BACK EMPLOYEES GENERAL TRAVELLERS FROM OTHER TOWNS TO THE CITY AND VICE VERSA HAD STARTED TO OCCUPY THE SPACE ON THE HIGHWAY.
I ASKED MY DRIVER TO JOIN ME IN A CUP OF TEA AND SITTING ON THE ROADSIDE BENCH OF THE MAKESHIFT TEA STALL ,MY MIND COULD THINK NOTHING EXCEPT THE FOLLOWING LINES OF LATE HARI VANSH RAI BACHAN:

DIN JALDI JALDI DHALTA HAI
YEH SONCH THAKA DIN KA PANCHHI BHI
JALDI JALDI CHALTAA HAI
BACHCHE PRATIYASHA ME HONGE
NEEDON SE JHAANK RAHE HONGE
YEH DHYAAN PARON ME CHIDIYA KE
BHARTAA KITNI CHANCHALTA HA

( HARI VANSH RAI BACHAN)

SO LONG SO MUCH..


( Autar Mota )


About Avantipora temple ruins , Historian  Noted Art  Dr A K Singh writes :
 

“After Lalitaditya, Kashmiri style appears to have changed slightly and in its new get-up it sustained till 10-11th century. This phase is supposed to be the most developed stage of Kashmiri art style when its famespread in the remote Himalayas and before facing decay in Kashmir due to lack of patronage and religious upheavel, it was grafted into Tibet for further flowering. Roerich has designated the Kashmir school of art of the 9th century as Avantipura school as the best examples of Kashmir art are found at Avantipura complex built by King Avantivarman (855-883 A. D.) of Kashmir who was a great lover of fine arts. This new style of Avantivarman's time is an amalgam of various earlier prevalent forms like Gandharan, Greaco-Roman, Sarcarenian, Chinese, Central Asian and over-all Indian. Best representation of this style is found in the good numbers of Kashmiri bronzes dated to 9th to 11th century cast by Kashmiri craftsmen for Tibetan patrons. The style of such bronzes presents a ramarkable affinity to thatof  wall-patintings dating to 10-11th century decorated in the Buddhist temples of Western Tibet. In this connection, Roerich opines that the act of Avantipura school stronglyinfluenced the development of art tradition of Western Tibet in 10-11 century. “