01Ghateshwara
The main temple, Ghateshwara Mahadev, has a shikhar of the early Nagara type rising in bands, a mandapa with a pillared porch, and a linga in the sanctum. The wall niches hold Nataraja, Chamunda and Mahishasuramardini; the door frame is crowded with river goddesses and dvarapalas. Smaller temples to Vishnu, the Devi, Ganesha and Shiva in other forms stand around it. Some are roofless, some have lost their sculptures, and a few images were stolen in the late 20th century, but the group is the clearest picture of a Pratihara temple town in Rajasthan.
02Tod’s praise
James Tod, the East India Company’s political agent in Rajputana, came here in the 1820s and wrote in his Annals that the sculpture was among the finest he had seen in India. The ASI now protects the site. Ghateshwara is still worshipped, and villagers keep the lamp in the sanctum lit. The Rana Pratap Sagar dam on the Chambal and the Rawatbhata atomic power station stand a few km away, so the oldest and newest works of the region share one road.
The life of this place
- 10th centuryThe temple group is built.
- 1820sJames Tod visits and describes the temples.
About 50 km south-west of Kota on the Rawatbhata road; carry water, there are few shops.
