Mattan (Bawan) Temple:
The Valley of Kashmir is the 'Holy Land' of the Hindus and there is hardly any village
which can not show some relic of antiquity. In Anantnag District there are several
temples of historical as well as religious importance. Bawan temple is one among
them. Some 8 Kms. from Anantnag town, on the north side is to be seen a spring,
a very sacred spring, near a small village called Bawan, a name derived from the
water, which gushes out from a fissure in the limestone rock.
Martand Temple:
Of all the interesting sights in the vicinity of Anantnag,
the ruins of Martand hold the first place and they are easy to access, being just
10 Kms. from the main town Anantnag. It lies on the krewa above Islamabad , and
is easily reached from Anantnag.(Islamabad), Bawan and Achabal. The runis of the
Hindu temple of Martand or, as it is commonly called, the Pandu-Koru, or the house
of the Pandus and Korus—the Cyclopes of the east- are situated on the highest part
of a krewa, where it commences to rise to its juncture with the mountains. About
3 miles east of Islamabad, Occupying, undoubtedly, the finest position in Kashmir,
this noble ruins is the most striking in size and situation of all the existing
remains of Kashmir grandeur. The temple itself is not now more than
40 feet in height,
but its solid walls and bold outlines, towering over the fluted pillars of the surrounding
colonnade , given it a most imposing appearance.
There are no petty confused details, but all are
district and massive, and most admirably suited to the general character of the
building. Many vain speculations have been hazarded regarding the date of erection
of this temple, and the worship to which it was appropriated , It is usually called
the House of the Pandus by the Brahmins , and by the people “Martand”, or the sun,
to which the temple was dedicated. The true date of the erection of this temple—the
wonder of Kashmir is a disputed point of chronology; but the period of its foundation
can be determined within the limits of one century, or between A.D 370 and 500,
The mass of building now known by the name of Martand consists of one lofty central
edifice, with a small detached wing on each side of the entrance, the whole standing
in a large quadrangle surrounded by a colonnade of fluted pillars with intervening
, trefoil headed recesses. The length of the outer side of the wall, which is blank,
is about 90 yards; that of the front is about 56. There are in all eighty four columns—a
singularly appropriate number in a temple of the sun, if as is supposed , the number
eighty four is accounted sacred by the Hindus in consequence of its being the multiple
of the number of days in the week with the number of signs in the zodiac. The colonnade
is recorded in the Rajatarangini as the work of the famous king Laltaditya, who
reigned from A.D.693 to 729 . From the same authority we gather though the
interruption of the verses is considerably disputed that the temple itself was built
by Ranaditya and the side chapels, or at least one of them, by his queen, Amritaprakha
. the date of Ranaditya’s reign is involved in some obscurity, but it may safely
be conjectured that he died in the first half of the fifth century after Christ.
The remains of three gateways opening into the court are now standing. The principal
of these fronts due west towards Islamabad. It is also rectangular in its details
and built with enormous blocks of limestone, 6 or 8 feet in length, and one of 9,
and of proportionate solidity, cemented with an excellent mortar. Fergusson gives
the date of Martand as A.D.750, and fixes the reign of Ranaditya as A.D.578-594.
The central building is 63 feet in length by 36 in width,, and alone of all the
temples of Kashmir possesses, in addition to the cella or sanctuary, a choir and
nave, termed in Sanskrit the antarala and arddhamandapa; the nave is 18 feet
square, the sanctuary alone is left entirely bare, the two other compartments being
lined with
rich panellings and sculptured niches. As the main building is at present
entirely uncovered the original form of the roof can only be determined by a reference
to other temples and to the general form and character of the various parts of the Maratand temple itself. It has been conjectured that the roof was of pyramidal from,
and that the iterance chamber and wings were similarly covered. There would thus
have been four distinct pyramids, of which that over the inner chamber must have
been the loftiest , the height of its pinnacle above the ground being about 75 feet.
The interior must have been as imposing as the exterior. On ascending the flight
of steps, now covered by ruins , the votary of the sun entered a highly decorated
chamber, with a doorway on each side covered by a pediment with a trefoil headed
niche containing a bust of the Hindu triad, and on the flanks of the main entrance
, as well as on those of the side doorways, were pointed ad trefoil niches, each
of which held a statue of a Hindu deity. The interior decorations of the roof can
only be conjecturally determined, as there do not appear to be nay ornamented stones
that that could with certainty be assigned to it. Baron Hugel doubts that Martand
ever had a roof, but as the walls of the temple are still standing the numerous
heaps of large stones that are scattered about on all sides can only have belonged
to the roof.
Cunningham thinks that the erections of this sun temple was suggested by the magnificent
sunny prospect which its position commands. It overlooks the finest view in Kashmir,
and perhaps in the known world. Beneath it lies the paradise of the east, with its
sacred streams and glens, its orchards and green fields , surrounded on all sides
by vast snowy mountains, whose lofty peaks seem to smile upon the beautiful valley
below. The vast extent of the scene makes it sublime; for this magnificent view
of Kashmir is no petty peer in a half mile glen, but the full display of a valley
60 miles in breadth and upwards of 100 miles in length the whole of which lies beneath
the “ ken of the wonderful Martand”.