हिंदीOn this day
Ruined

Malinithan, Likabali

A hilltop temple site above the Brahmaputra plain at Likabali, where the local tradition says Parvati welcomed Shri Krishna and Rukmini with garlands as they fled from Bhishmaka’s kingdom. Excavation uncovered a stone plinth and fine sculptures.

Built: c. 13th–14th century stone temple, now in ruins; excavated by the ASIWhere: Arunachal Pradesh (Lower Siang district)Deity: Devi as Malini (Parvati); sculptures of Indra, Surya, Ganesha and Nandi27.66° N, 94.71° E
  1. c. 13th–14th century
  2. 1968–71
Photo: Nayan j Nath · CC BY-SA 4.0

01The garland-maker

The Bhagavata Purana tells how Krishna carried Rukmini away from her father Bhishmaka’s city on the eve of her marriage to Shishupala. The people of the Siang and Lohit foothills hold that Bhishmaka’s kingdom lay here, at Bhismaknagar near Roing, and that on their way west Krishna and Rukmini rested on this hill, where Parvati, doing tapas, came out to meet them and gave them garlands of flowers she had made. So the Devi was called Malini, and the hill Malinithan.

02What the spade found

Excavations from 1968 to 1971 exposed the granite plinth of a large temple, with carved blocks, door parts and sculptures: Indra on Airavata, Kartikeya on his peacock, Surya in his chariot, Ganesha on a mouse, a large Nandi, and graceful female figures. They are now kept in an open-air gallery on the site. The temple seems to have been built in the 13th–14th centuries, when the Chutia kings ruled the valley below. A Durga temple is in worship on the hill today.

The life of this place

  1. c. 13th–14th centuryThe stone temple is built on the hill.
  2. 1968–71Excavation uncovers the plinth and sculptures.
Visiting

Near Likabali on the Assam–Arunachal border, about 1 km off the main road; an Inner Line Permit is needed for Arunachal.

Nearby

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