Sirpur (Shripura) and the Lakshmana Temple

01Queen Vasata’s temple

An inscription found at the site records that the temple was built by Vasata, daughter of the Maukhari king Suryavarman, in memory of her husband, the Panduvamshi king Harshagupta, during the reign of their son Mahashivagupta Balarjuna. It is a Vishnu temple, despite its modern name. Its tower is made entirely of finely moulded brick, with false windows (gavakshas), lotus friezes and miniature shrines cut into the clay; the stone doorframe shows Vishnu’s avatars and Shesha. It has stood for some 1,300 years.

02A city under the soil

Excavations in the 1950s and again from about 2000 to 2011 uncovered a whole city: Shaiva and Vaishnava temples, a dozen Buddhist viharas, Jain shrines, a large market with granaries, and bathing ghats on the Mahanadi. Under Mahashivagupta, himself a Shaiva, all these lived side by side. The Gandheshwar temple by the river is still in worship, built partly from older carved stones. The town of Shripura seems to have declined after an earthquake and floods.

The life of this place