Sonnentempel von Martand
Die Ruinen des Sonnentempels von Martand liegen im Distrikt Anantnag im indischen Unionsterritorium Jammu und Kaschmir und sind von großer historischer und kultureller Bedeutung für das Kaschmirtal. Darüber hinaus sind die frühen Hindutempel Kaschmirs von großer politischer Bedeutung im anhaltenden Konflikt zwischen Indien und Pakistan um die Zugehörigkeit der Region.
Lage
Der Tempelkomplex von Martand liegt zusammen mit dem – wahrscheinlich erst später hinzugekommenen – Dörfchen Mattan auf einem Hügelplateau in einer Entfernung von etwa 8 km östlich der Stadt Anantnag in einer Höhe von ca. 1720 m; die Entfernung von Srinagar beträgt etwa 65 km in südöstlicher Richtung.
Geschichte
Der dem hinduistischen Sonnengott Surya (anderer Sanskrit-Name: Martand) geweihte Tempel wurde von König Lalitaditya-Muktapida (reg. ca. 723–760) aus der Karkota-Dynastie in der ersten Hälfte des 8. Jahrhunderts – möglicherweise an der Stelle eines Vorgängerbaus aus dem 4. oder 5. Jahrhundert – errichtet. Zu Beginn des 15. Jahrhunderts zerstörten die Truppen des muslimischen Eroberers Sikandar Butshikan (reg. 1389–1413) den Tempelkomplex. Erst im 19. Jahrhundert entdeckten die damals über Indien herrschenden Briten das Bauwerk und seine Bedeutung; sie unternahmen in der Folge umfangreiche Sicherungs- und Restaurierungsmaßnahmen.
Architektur
Der Haupttempel erhebt sich in einem versenkt liegenden und von etwa 3 m hohen Mauern umgebenen rechteckigen Innenhof, dessen Seitenlängen etwa 67 m × 43 m betragen. Der peristyl-artige und ehemals überdachte Umgang barg insgesamt 81 Nischen, in welchen sich vierarmige Götterfiguren befanden; die Nischen wurden von je zwei reich geschmückten Halbsäulen gerahmt und hatten jeweils ein trapezförmiges Kraggewölbedach, innerhalb dessen ein Dreipassbogen Kopf und Schultern der Figur rahmte. Die tieferliegenden Wände der Innenhofs waren ebenfalls mit kleinen Figuren (Musikanten, Tänzer etc.) geschmückt. Der Haupttempel bestand aus einer kleinen Vorhalle (mandapa) mit seitlichen Annexbauten, einem Vorraum (antarala) und der eigentlichen Cella (garbhagriha), die wahrscheinlich von einem gestuften pyramidenförmigen Dach bedeckt wurde; er war umgeben von mehreren kleineren Tempeln, so dass eine panchayatana-Anlage entstand. Die erhöht liegenden Eingänge von Haupttempel und Hof befinden sich jeweils im Westen; die Cella weist demzufolge nach Osten.
Siehe auch
Literatur
- Michael W. Meister u. a. (Hrsg.): Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture. North India – Foundations of North Indian Style. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1988, S. 363ff ISBN 0-691-04053-2.
Weblinks
- Sonnentempel von Martand – Fotos + Infos (englisch)
- Sonnentempel von Martand – Infos (englisch)
Koordinaten: 33° 44′ 44″ N, 75° 13′ 13″ O
Auf dieser Seite verwendete Medien
Kashmir. General view of Temple and Enclosure of Marttand or the Sun, near Bhawan. Probable date of temple A.D. 490-555. Probable date of colonnade A.D. 693-729 Photograph of the Surya Temple at Martand in Jammu & Kashmir taken by John Burke in 1868. This general view from the hillside looking down onto the ruins of the temple was reproduced in Henry Hardy Cole's Archaeological Survey of India Report 'Illustrations of Ancient Buildings in Kashmir.' (1869). Cole stated, 'The most impressive and grandest ruins in Kashmir, are at Marttand, which is about three miles east of Anantnag.' . The Surya temple is situated on a high plateau and commands superb views over the Kashmir valley. Dedicated to the sun god, it is considered a masterpiece of early temple architecture in Kashmir. It was built by Lalitaditya Muktapida (ruled c.724-c.760) of the Karkota dynasty, one of the greatest of Kashmir's rulers, under whom both Buddhism and Hinduism flourished. The temple consists of a principal sanctuary standing on a high plinth in a rectangular colonnaded court, surrounded by 84 small shrines. Its roof has disappeared but the immense doorway before the sanctum still stands, consisting of a trefoil arch set within a tall triangular pediment standing on engaged pilasters.
Autor/Urheber: Ankur P, Lizenz: CC BY-SA 2.0
Martand Sun Temple was dedicated to Hinduism's Surya (Sun) god and is now in ruins. The ruins of the temple are located near Anantnag in Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir.
Before the invasion by Islamic armies from Persia, the length and breadth of the Kashmir Valley has a network of Hindu Temples. For example - Shankaracharya Temple, Payar Temple, Martand Temple (shown), Buniyar Temples, Laduv Temple, Avantisvara Temple, Avantiswami Temple, Taper Temple, Manasbal Temple, Mamal Temple, Devsar Temple, Garur Temple, Sugandesha Temple, Narag Temples, Narasthan Temple and others. Source: Shah, "UNIQUE FEATURES OF ANCIENT TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE OF KASHMIR", Review of Research, March 2013, Vol. 2 Issue 6, Special section p 1-3.
The Avantipur temples and the Martand Temple are an attraction for people interested in history and archaeology. Their style is unique, being heavily influenced by the Buddhist Gandhara school of art, which in turn was influenced by Greek and Hellenistic art and architecture. The Martand temple had a colonnaded courtyard, with a shrine in its centre, which was 220 feet long and 142 feet broad. It was surrounded by 84 small shrines.
The temple was destroyed, burnt then razed to the ground by Islamic Sultan Sikander in 15th century. His violence against temples won him the sobriquet of but-shikan or idol-breaker. In Kashmir, he was responsible for the desecration and destruction of numerous temples, caityas, viharas, shrines, hermitages and other holy places of the Hindus and Buddhists. He banned dance, drama, music and iconography as aesthetic activities of the Hindus and Buddhists, finding them as heretical and un-Islamic.
Despite his and his army's best efforts, many of the bas-reliefs were too difficult to destroy. They were carved into the mountain stone, and his army's tools failed to chip them away. Above are some of those damaged but still surviving bas reliefs of Hindu deities.
Autor/Urheber: Gaurav Kumar, Lizenz: CC BY-SA 3.0
View of the ruins as seen from the entrance to the main Temple structure. Panorama created using 6 images taken on 30 July, 2011. Camera: Canon 550D 18-55 Kit lens. Panorama created using Adobe Photoshop CS5.
Autor/Urheber: The British Library, Lizenz: No restrictions
Image taken from:
Title: "Letters from India and Kashmir: written 1870; illustrated and annotated 1873. [By J. Duguid. With plates.]", "Appendix" Contributor: DUGUID, J. - Author of “Letters from India and Kashmir.” Author: India Shelfmark: "British Library HMNTS 10056.ff.22.", "British Library OC ORW.1986.a.2999" Page: 241 Place of Publishing: London Date of Publishing: 1874 Issuance: monographic Identifier: 001797978
Note: The colours, contrast and appearance of these illustrations are unlikely to be true to life. They are derived from scanned images that have been enhanced for machine interpretation and have been altered from their originals.
If you wish to purchase a high quality copy of the page that this image is drawn from, please order it here. Please note that you will need to enter details from the above list - such as the shelfmark, the page, the book's volume and so on - when filling out your order.
Following this or the link above will take you to the British Library's integrated catalogue. You will be able to download a PDF of the book this image is taken from, as well as view the pages up close with the 'itemViewer'. Click on the 'related items' to search for the electronic version of this work.
Click here to see all the illustrations in this book and click here to browse other illustrations published in books in the same year. Please click on the tags shown on the right-hand side for other ways to browse the illustrations.