Monday, June 13, 2016

Is that the Indian Parliament House?

#ashokasays Did you know 248:

This specific information when I found was really mind boggling for me! Was the design of Indian Parliament house inspired by this?

Is it the Indian Parliament House?

Rich cultural heritage has blessed India with numerous places worth visiting. Many of these are lying hidden in little-known towns and villages, which even many of the tourist circles, at times have no clue about. Whenever you come across such spots, you tend to realize that the current one is more beautiful than the previous one. One of such hidden spots is Chausath Yogini temple in Mitawali  village, near Padaoli, Morena district, Madhya Pradesh, which is situated about 40-50 KM from Gwalior.
The temple is located on a hill which is about 100 feet (30 m) in height and there are 100 steps to climb leading to the entrance of the temple.

A unique ancient temple resembling Indian Parliament House stands atop a hill surrounded by ravines in Madhya Pradesh’s Chambal Valley. Built in the 8th-century by Maharaja Devapala Chausath Yogini temple also known as Ekattarso Mahadeva Temple is on more than 100 stone pillars and is said to have inspired the design for Indian Parliament House. The structures of Indian Parliament House, known as Sansad Bhavan, and Mitawali temple are strikingly similar. It seems that the architects drew inspiration from this temple in designing and building the Parliament House.

It is said that the temple was used to be a seat of education of astrology and mathematics with the use of the rays and shades of the Sun.
The temple is externally circular in shape with a radius of 170 feet (52 m) and within its interior part it has 64 small chambers, each with a mandapa which is open and a facia of pilasters and pillars. The roof of the entire structure is flat including that of another east facing circular temple within the outer circular wall. A large passage or courtyard lies between the outer enclosure and the central temple which is dedicated to Lord Shiva. There is an open porch entrance to this temple. The exterior surface of the outer wall has carvings of Hindu deities. Each of the 64 chambers in the outer circle has an image of Shiva deified in it. However, recent investigations have confirmed that originally these had a Yogini image deified in them and hence the temple is known as Chausath Yogini Temple ('Chausath' here means "Sixty four"). It is said that the roof over the 64 chambers and the central shrine had towers or shikharas which were probably removed during later modifications.
Within the main central shrine there are slab coverings which have perforations in them to drain rainwater to a large underground storage. The pipe lines from the roof lead the rain water to the storage are also visible.
The design of the temple has withstood earthquake shocks, without any damage to its circular structural features, in the past several centuries. The temple is in the Earthquake Zone III. This fact was cited when the issue of safety from earthquake effect of the Parliament House which is also a circular structure, similar to the Chausath Yogini Temple, was debated in the Indian Parliament.

The Indian Parliament building which is admired world wide for its design which was done by renowned architects Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker, was constructed in 1927 and this temple might have been an inspiration is what the archaeologists and locals in Mitawali believe and I am inclined too.

Google and find out more about this temple.

INCREDIBLE BHARATHA





No comments:

Post a Comment