Historical Places Around Vidisha

Good evening friends, hope you have enjoyed my previous blog on Vidisha... Today I am here to give you the descriptions of those places which you can visit from Vidisha. Vidisha tour is incomplete without visiting these places. So, lets start.... 

            About 70km from the town of Vidisha lies the village of Udaipur, named after Parmar King Udayaditya, who ruled over this region in 11th century. Udaipur is famous for the Neelkantheswara Temple. It is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva... According to some Historians, after the death of Raja Bhoj, the most powerful and renowned ruler of the Parmar Kingdom, his son Jaisimha ascended the throne. He was weak and incapable to rule the kingdom. As a result, the neighbours like Chalukyas, Kalchuris and Baghels took the adventage of the situation and tried to invade Vidisha and Malwa region. During this situation Udayaditya, younger brother of Raja Bhoj was elected as the ruler of the 

Neelkantheswara temple

Parmar Kingdom. According to Nagpur Inscription, the rise of Udayaditya as a king is considered as the rise of sun to remove the darkness of the earth.. During the rule of Udayaditya, the Chalukyas of South India attacked Malwa. Udayaditya with his military excellence repulsed them to the south of Godavari. According to locals after this victory, the king who was a devotee of Lord Shiva built this temple near Vidisha as a gift to his lord. So, this temple is also known as Udayeshwara Temple, from which the village gets its name Udaipur. In 1930s, this temple was discovered by Archaeologist, MB Garde in middle of forests. It was Jiwaji Rao Scindia of Gwalior, who took serious initiative in renovation and conservation of this temple. Till now, the temple is jointly maintained by the ASI, Bhopal circle and the Scindia royal family of Gwalior... 

        Built on the slope of a hillock, the striking feature of the temple is its sculptural works along the walls. This temple may not be so famous like those of khajuraho or the Sanchi Stupa which are noted for its sculptural works but this temple has a unique architectural and sculptural importance which is very much different from those of khajuraho or Sanchi. The main difference between the Khajuraho temples with this one is unlike those from khajuraho, this temple does not have any platform, which is a salient feature of the Parmar architectural style known as Bhumija style, where the structure resembles to be come out from the earth directly. The temple is made up of red sandstone, whereas, both Sanchi and Khajuraho temples are made up of yellow sandstone.

 Bhairava Statue on the entrance of

the temple

        Generally, in a temple one visits from the temple through the gate, which is situated at the front or in a side of the temple. But here, one enters the temple from the back... No one can tell me why the main entrance is in the back of the temple, which is very irregular.

        Another salient feature of this temple is the presence of a latticed wall straight roof structure adjacent to the temple. Actually Raja Udayaditya like his successor Raja Bhoj was a patron of art, music and dance. This structure was a place where musical performances took place during that time.

Space adjacent to the Temple

dedicated for Social functions

        It is said that during sunrise the first rays of sun directly falls on the shivlinga of the temple. Though the shivlinga here is covered by brass structure. It was only in the day of Maha Shivaratri, when the Shivlinga is opened.  

An awkward human statue on

near the roof of the temple

having a legendary

tale

       When you are in a temple there must be some local legends associated with the temple, which does not have much to do with history but these legendary tales are a treat to hear. In this temple too, you will come across such legendary tales. One striking thing in this temple is the presence of a human statue in the back walls of the temple just below the roof of the temple. According to legends, the main architect of the temple got a advice from Lord Shiva that no one associated with the building of the temple would be allowed to touch the temple after sunset and before sunrise. So he made it a rule that everyone has to leave their work before sunset. One day, one of the artisans associated with the building of the temple was working in the top of the temple. He was so devoted in his work that he could not keep watch on the sun. When he saw the sun setting from the roof of the temple it was too late to come down. He tried hard but could not climb down. As soon as the sun goes past the horizon, he had been converted into a stone structure at the very position where he was in that time. 

Maladevi Temple

        About a 30km drive from Udaipur will take one to another historical and scenic village of Gyaraspur. Gyaraspur situated on the top of a block mountain is a important place for history lovers as it has some old remains of Hindu and Jain temples. One can also visit the Dhekinath Buddhist stupa from here which is about 2-3km from the village. Though I could not visit that place as the road to the stupa was completely broken due to the flashfloods of Madhya Pradesh in 2019. It was totally impossible for a car to go through that road and I did not have that time with me to make it by walking. So, sorry that I could not give you any information about that place.

The Ganga and Yamuna Statue

        But still there are a lot of surprises in this place. The very first is the Aat Khamba. It is a remains of a damaged temple, most probably a temple dedicated to Lord shiva... Visiting this place now take uphill and climb the Gyaraspur hill with a narrow road. This road will take you to the Maladevi Temple, a jain temple situated at the top of the hill. The temple is in the stiff slopes of the hill and it is totally concealed in the gorge that no one can have a glimpse of the temple from the road.. One has to climb a few steps down through a well maintained stairs to reach the temple.. The temple premises provides a beautiful view of the rift valley below. The gate of the temple has a Ganga and a Yamuna statue in its two side.. According to Historians this temple was built in the 9th century during the Gujjar-Pratihar period. 

        A downward road from the Maladevi Temple will take you to the Hindola Toran Complex.. The striking architectural marvel of Gyaraspur, Hindola Toran was a decorated gateway to a temple most probably dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The temple is destroyed and presently there is a four pillared structure present which is called Chaukhamba by the locals... The Chaukhamba and the Toran is an example of Parmar Style of Architecture... The Dasavtar statue on the pillars of Chaukhamba, decorations over the horizontal part of the Hindola Toran is a wonderful piece of sculpture of that time.

Chaukhamba

        On the way back to Vidisha it is a must to visit the Bajramath Temple dedicated to the Bramha, Vishnu and Shiva and later converted to a Jain Temple... It is an architectural marvel from the 8th century, most probably Gujjar-Pratihar times... 

        After visiting the Bajramath, now its time to come back to the starting place, Vidisha... Its about 50-55Km journey from Gyaraspur to Vidisha... Actually Vidisha, Gyaraspur and Udaipur forms a Golden triangle for tourist who loves to visit historical places.. But this tour is very enjoyable for nature lovers too.. As the state Madhya Pradesh is very less populated, you can enjoy the nature at its most in almost all places here. Most of the times the roads are through the Sal forests and the Wavy surface of the Vindhya Hills. This made the journey very lovable. So, have a plan for this trip whenever possible... Its my challenge that you will enjoy this trip a lot... And if you visit this place and find any story behind the entrance of the Neelkantheswara Temple of Udaipur, which I had discussed earlier obviously share it with me... I am really waiting for the story, may be a legendary tale or some with a historical or mythological significance as the entrance created a lot of  curiosity in me, but I could not find an answer there...

         Here are some very important points to be remembered for this trip...

Hindola Toran

Time to visit-- Any time of the year except summer months of May and June. 

How to Reach-- Vidisha is well connected through Railways.. Its a 60km away from the state capital Bhopal. You can also come to Vidisha from Bhopal. But it is always advisable to stay at least 2 days at Vidisha.. One day for the places in the city and next day for Gyaraspur and Udaipur.. Hire a car for Udaipur, Gyaraspur trip.

Where to stay-- There are many private hotels at Vidisha.. But if you want to stay at the lap of the nature stay at the MP Tourism Jungle Retreat at Udaygiri.. Boating facility and Jungle trail at the Udaygiri Hills is available there.. For bird watchers and nature lovers these activities are must....

         So friends, how is the story?? Hope you have enjoyed. Always comment me about your feelings about this place. And for notifications about my blogs like my facebook page Traveller Raja, where I share all my blog's news. So today its all over.. Wait for my new story on Sanchi which I will share very shortly.. For now, Good night and stay safe...