Bisaldeo Temple

Tonk, Rajasthan

By Anchit Jain

The Gokarneshwara or Bisaldeo Temple in a courtyard built on the Banas river. It is located near the Bisalpur dam. The plan of temple consists of a garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum), an antarala (vestibule or antechamber), a mahamandapa (pillared hall) with lateral transepts and an ardhamandapa. It is a nirandhara prasada i.e., without the pradakshina path or circumambulatory path. The sanctum is pancharatha (consisting of five projections on each side) in plan and the walls of the sanctum are plain.
The Gokarneshwara or Bisaldeo Temple in a courtyard built on the Banas river. It is located near the Bisalpur dam. The plan of temple consists of a garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum), an antarala (vestibule or antechamber), a mahamandapa (pillared hall) with lateral transepts and an ardhamandapa. It is a nirandhara prasada i.e., without the pradakshina path or circumambulatory path. The sanctum is pancharatha (consisting of five projections on each side) in plan and the walls of the sanctum are plain.

Protected under the Jaipur Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the Bisaldeo Temple in the Tonk district of Rajasthan is a 12th century CE temple of Shiva, which is popularly referred to as the Gokarneshwara (Gokarnesvara) Mahadev in and around the region. Located near the Bisalpur dam on the Banas river, 150 km from Jaipur, the courtyard of the temple has access from the road with stairs leading downwards. The courtyard is partly submerged in the river water for most of the year. The temple was commissioned by the Chauhan ruler Vigraharaja IV, also known by the name Bisaldeo, who was an ardent devotee of Gokarneshwara. This means that the site was popular and considered sacred before the construction of the temple.

The present structure of the Bisaldeo Temple is comprised of a pancharatha (five rathas or pagas, i.e., vertical offset projection or facets on each side) sanctum, antarala (vestibule), square mandapa (pillared hall) and portico with shikhara (superstructure). The sanctum enshrines a linga (an aniconic form of Shiva). The temple walls are comparatively plain on the inside, and the mandapa is now surmounted by a hemispherical dome, which would have been added to the structure during a later period after its construction. The mandapa has eight exquisitely carved pillars. These have floral festoons on the lower sections topped with chain-and-bell and circular medallions. Several short inscriptions in the temple record the pilgrim visits from time to time. The earliest of these is dated 1154–65 CE and mentions the Chahamana chief Prithviraja III.

The module on the temple consists of an overview article, two allied articles, an image gallery, and architectural drawings. The overview article explores the larger history of the site and the temple. The first allied article aims to understand the historical associations between the Gokarna cave and the Bisaldeo Temple and explores the after-lives of these associations in late medieval accounts and modern mahatmaya literature. The second allied article contextualises the Shaiva imagery of the temple with the history of the region.