ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS

• Kumaon is one of the two regions and administrative divisions of Uttarkhand, a mountainous state of northern India, the other being Gharwal division.

• The traditional building technique of Kumaon Region called ‘KOTI BANAL’.

• There are two distinctive types of houses found , which are Row house type and Single House type. Most of the old houses of Kumaon have stone walls, mud floors, slate roofs and patangans [courtyards of gray stone]. The staircase is tucked on the front facade. The roof is of large slate stones supported by wooden beams. Surface and narrative crafts on a wall and door.

• Settlements are usually linear blocks or individual units. They are homesteads with agriculture lands surrounding the settlement. The lower storey is low-ceilinged base- ment and houses the cattle. The walls are made of local stone and wood and daubed with mud. The roof is of large slate stones supported by wooden beams. The staircase is tucked on the front façade. It is usually of stone and has 5-6 steps leading to the upper floor. The entrance porch is either open or covered with cantilever upper floor. The peculiar feature of all these houses is that they have a paved porch/ floor in the front of the house where many activities spill over during the day.

• A door is called kholi; a room, khand; the front reception room, tiwari; the space behind the house, kuriya; a row of houses together, bakhal or kholo. A rubble-masonry wall made of slate (pattdar) and coated with mud plaster (made with red soil); and the roof (pakh) is a timber truss finished with local slate. Mud is mixed with cow dung and other organic additives for thermal insulation. The flooring is made of wooden planks supported with wooden trunks as beams and then smeared with a paste of cow dung and clay. Doors and windows are commonly made of loheta and surai and in some cases of kedar [deodar cedar, sal tree, tun wood .

Jageshwar Temples also referred to as Jageshwar Temples or Jageshwar Valley Temples, are a group of 125 ancient Hindu temples dated between the 7th and 14th century, near Almora in Almora district of the Himalayan Indian state of Uttarakhand. The valley has several temple clusters such as the Dandeshwar and Jageshwar sites. Some locations have attracted the construction of new temples through the 20th century. They predominantly illustrate the North Indian Nagara style of architecture with a few exceptions that show South and Central Indian style designs, many are dedicated to the god Shiva, while others in the immediate vicinity are dedicated to the god Vishnu, Shakti goddesses and Surya traditions of Hinduism.

Jageshwar is a Hindu pilgrimage town and one of the Dhams (pilgrimage regions) in the Shaivism tradition. The site is protected under Indian laws and managed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). It includes Dandeshwar Temple, Chandi-ka-Temple, Jageshwar Temple, Kuber Temple, Mritunjaya Temple, Nanda Devi or Nau Durga, Nava-grah temple, a Pyramidal shrine, and Surya Temple. The site celebrates the Jageshwar Monsoon Festival during the Hindu calendar month of Shravan (overlaps with July–August) and the annual Maha Shivratri Mela (Shivratri festival), which takes place in early spring.

Aarti

Aarti at Jageshwar Temple is done for 45 minutes at the time of sunset. During this time, the atmosphere of the temple becomes enchanted by the words of music and shlokas. Shivaling is bathed and anointed is done by the priest of the temple.

The prasad for the temples are made by the people ..who live at the top of the hill near the temple.

Mantras And Rituals

According to Shiva Purana, Shiva’s worship in the form of Shivalinga is the best means of liberation in this Kaliyuga. He is both saguna a definite form) and nirguna (without definite form) and his worship in any of these forms are equally beneficial. The basic law of nature behind the ship of Shivalinga is that everything comes from nothing and goes back to nothing. Shiva ally translates to that which is “not”. The entire galaxy is just a tiny ant in the mighty universe. rest of it is a vast emptiness that is known as Shiva. So it is the womb from which the universe was born and into which it will go back. In Shiva Purana, it is told to practice manana, shravana, and kirtana to get closer to the divine force that Lord Shiva Himself. ‘Manana’ means uttering the Shiva mantras or prayers, contemplating or meditating upon the grandeur and significance of Shiva or the sacred texts of Shaivism, and then performing similar activities. “Shravana” listening to others about Lord Shiva and Shaivism and Kirtana means singing the glory of Lord Shiva. With these, there are a few rituals which are performed to appease Shiva.

Architectural Styles

These temples were made in different styles like the flat roof, phamsana or pidha style, squire type of garbagia and antral in the basement, Nagar or Rekha-shikhar style (Indo-Aryan style), Ghalara style, Valabhi style, etc. Though manufactured in different architectural styles sometimes it becomes difficult to categorize these in a particular style; because these temples were manufactured over a long period and were severally conserved and preserved also. Hence; its original shape, size, and style cannot be decided in particular. Here, it is also noteworthy to say that in 1972 Vajpai (Vajpai, 1972:177) gave a theory of a new architectural style of temples in Uttarakhand, which was nomenclatured as “Himachala Style” by Shri Krishna in 1991 (Krishna Deva, 1991-93-118), which has its significant specialties. Kathoch (1981:12-13) has discovered a manuscript named “Vastushinomani”, written by Shankar who was a teacher of Garhwala-king Shyama Shah. It was written in c. 1620 C.E. and is based on the scriptures like Vishnudharmottar Parana, Matsya Purana, Agni Purana, Vrihat Samhita, Narada Samhita, etc.

With this, it can be concluded that there was a specific and classical architectural style of Uttarakhand which received more development after the Gupta period. It is evident from the ancient temples of this area that the Himachala Style was one among those many styles which had flourished as different temple architecture styles after Gupta period and which reached to its zenith in the regime of Katyuri-Kinga (740-1100 C.E.). According to folk lore, the Katyuri Kings used to construct a temple, or a naula or armashala every day.

After doing this only they took their daily meals. The local traditions and Jagara stories say that the number of Katyuri Kings was around nine lakhs. Probably Katyuries were ancestors of Kanindas )and their social structure was that of tribes. It is also proved by the local traditions and Jagara tales. So the temples situated at Jageshwara or its nearby places can be named temples of Katyuri Style also. The Archaeological Survey of India has divided these temples into three categories: (1) Katyuri Period (c. 8-10 cent. C.E.), (2) Later Katyuri Period (c. 1114 cent. C.E.) and Chanda Period (c.15-18 cent. C.E.).

The local people at Jageshwara adopted into their pantheon many Brahmanical deities, particularly Shiva and her consort Parvati or Shakti. The one hundred twenty-four temples of the Jageshwara group, three temples of Kubera, and fourteen (sixteen) of the Dandeshwara groups were constructed with strict architecture. These can be divided into four categories on the basis of their construction techniques and architectural styles-

1.FLAT-ROOFED STYLE

This type has a characteristic flat roof, which can be compared with the style of temples stracted in the early Gupta period and was used in smaller temples like the Kubera group, Dandeshwara group, etc. The temple of Narayan-Kali in District Almora and a few small temples at Lakhamandala are boleworthy. These temples are simple and less impressive. These are also considered to be of an earlier date. These temples don’t have the full composition of Hindu temples, as these sist of the only main sanctuary with neither the mandapa nor the portico. The Candida temple in the Dandeshwara group and a few small temples in the Jageshwara group can be referred to in this context.

2. REKHA LATINA STYLE

This is also called Rekha Shikhara style or Nagar Style or Indo-Aryan style. Other temples constructed with this style are Dwarahata, Kataramala, Baijanatha, Gopeshwara, Adi Badri, Lakhamandala, etc. The Jageshwara and Mrityunjaya temples are curvilinear in outline; the latina style is composed of a series of superimposed horizontal roof slabs and has offsets called latas. The edges of the shikhara are interrupted at intervals with grooved discs, each one demarcating a ‘story’. The surface of the entire ‘shikhara’ is covered with a creaper-like tracery or interlaced work composed of diminutive omamental chandrashala. These temples are square at the base. These have dwianga (two parts) named bhadra and karn-ratha. The shikharas are square at the base and walls curve or slope inward to a point on top.

3. PHAMSANA SHIKHARA/PIDHA OR PYRAMID STYLE

It has a simple vedibandha and jangha; showing four plain doorways and four stout corner pillars of ornate Rucaka type. The jangha is terminated by a pattika surmounted by a heavy kapotapali. The Phamsana consists of only two kapotapalis crowned by an amalasaraka. This temple may be dated to the first quarter of the eight century. Two temples of similar form, design and dimensions to the northeast of the Jageswara temple are collectively known as the Baleshvara temples and individually as the Lakulisha and Baleshvara, both face west. Each has a square garbhagriha, Phamsana of nine tiers, and is preceded by a short kapili, accommodating a doorway, roofed by a shukanasa that is crowned by a gajkranta simh

4.VALABHI/ BALLAVI/SAKARADEVAL STYLE

This style is also called gajaprishthakar (back of an elephant). Temple built in this style in Jageshwaraare Nava Durga (Fig. 9)and Chandika temples. This temple at Jageshwara is dedicated to Navadurga. Facing north, the temple is a rectangular Valabhi structure of c. 14x10 ft. Its sturdy handsome Valabhi is c. 30 ft. high. The temple is entered through a pair of ornate Rucaka pillars flanked by plain engaged pilasters. The jangha is plain save for ornate cantoning pillars and two flanking the entrance. These are of Rucakatype with ghatapallava at base and top. They support a plain pattika at the top of the jangha capped by a kapotapali. The malasthanas show grasmukha or ardharatna surmounted by ardhapadma.

Motifs

The motifs and designs are inspired by the religious beliefs of the community and the natural resources around them. They generally include conch shells, creepers, floral patterns, swastika, footsteps of goddess, geometric designs and figures of gods and goddesses.

Type: relief carving

Origin: natural forms like leaves flowers, geometric forms curved lines

Layout: borders( repetition in one direction)

Remark: temple unit entrance carvings