Circular walls, flat roofs and 64 chambers; this temple of Madhya Pradesh faces neglect which can be a wonder of India

Bhopal, December 28: India is known for its culture, its heritage and its ancient knowledge. Likewise there is a monument which has a very unique structure but has been bit neglected. This temple known as the Chausath Yogini Temple, Morena, also known as Ekattarso Mahadeva Temple, is an 11th century temple located in Morena district in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

 

The temple somewhat looks like our parliament building The temple is formed by a circular wall with 64 chambers and an open mandapa in the centre, separated by a courtyard which is circular in shape, where Shiva is deified. The temple has been declared an ancient historical monument by the Archaeological Survey of India.

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. It 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 unique feature of this temple is the roof of the entire structure is flat including that of another east facing circular temple within the outer circular wall. Hindu temples have Shikhara but this temple has a flat roof.

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 temple needs conservation measures to preserve the ancient monument in good shape.

The design of the temple has withstood earthquake shocks, without any damage to its circular structural features, in the past several centuries.