Maha Shivratri 2022: Hari Om Gaur, Morena. In Morena located in Gwalior Chambal zone, many centuries old Shiva Dham is also settled from the group of 200 temples of Bateshwara. In this ancient temple chain of 9th century, there are about 45 temples among the inaccessible paths, dense forests and mountains, half of which are scattered in the mountain-forests in the form of piles of stones. The temples here are square, which are not seen anywhere else in the country. There are different sizes of Shivling in the temple. The Shivalinga of the main temple is Chaturbhuji, whose Jalabhishek is performed by the water flowing through the mountains.
Nareshwar Mahadev is also known by the local people as Kedara, between the inaccessible forests and hills between the border of Morena, Gwalior and Bhind district, about 65 km from the district headquarters, because there is a temple of Mata Harsiddhi among the Shiva temples. Here 23 temples are 16-17 century old, more than 20 temples are scattered in stone in one and a half square kilometer area.
Situated in the sanctum sanctorum cut between the temples, the Shivalinga of Nareshwar Mahadev is square. Apart from Nareshwar, such a square Shivling is seen in Bhojpur temple of Bhopal, but many temples of Nareshwar have square, many egg-shaped, many pindi and gem-shaped Shivling. The commonality in every temple is that most of the Shivalingas are square at the bottom. The work of conservation of the temples included in the State Archaeological Heritage is going on for 9 months under the supervision of Archaeologist Hukum Chand of the Archaeological and Survey Department.
Three centuries older than Bateshwara, many similarities
The Bateshwara temple complex of Morena has gained fame all over the world, the Nareshwara temple group is almost three centuries older than the Bateshwara temples. District Archaeological Officer Ashok Sharma states that the Bateshwara temple group was built in the 8th to 10th century by the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty and was destroyed in the 13th century. On the other hand, Nareshwar temple groups were built between the Gupta period, ie 3rd to 5th century, and they expanded between 8th to 9th century. In Bateshwara, 140 temples are still in ruins, while in Nareshwar also the remains of more than 20 temples are scattered like stones in an area of one and a half square kilometers.
Amazing management of water drainage and water conservation
Behind the Nareshwar temples built by cutting the mountains, there are two ponds on the top of the hill, which after being filled with rain, the water rips through the mountains and drips on the Nareshwar Shivling and the Shivalinga of the temple built near it, due to which the Shivalinga is naturally formed. Ablution takes place.
Archaeological officer Ashok Sharma says that square-shaped temples like Nareshwar are not found anywhere in the country. In ancient times, there used to be a waterway to reach here, because water was full all around. Such arrangements have been made for water conservation by way of drainage above the temple, passing through and underground, which amazes even the modern engineers. Due to the water flowing between the temples in the rain, a bridge of stones has been made for the traffic. y
they say
Nareshwar Temple Group is a site of amazing ancient, religious and archeological importance. Temple clusters have been built before Bateshwara, the roads here are very inaccessible, that is why the information about this place has not reached the people. The Archaeological Survey Department is doing some conservation work here, more than 20 temples are in ruins, which can also be rebuilt like Bateshwara.
KK Mohammed, Padma Shri and retired Regional Officer, Department of Archeology and Survey
Posted By: Hemant Kumar Upadhyay