Nair temple explained

The Nair temple is a ruined pillared temple at the location of Nair, on the road between Patna and Gaya, west of Dharawat. It is about 20 miles from Gaya.[1]

The temple consists of three rows of monolithic pillars, ten pillars in each row. In the front of the temple there is a further row of four pillars.[1]

According to Thomas Fraser Peppé, who photographed it in 1870: "The temple behind consists of brick and mud cement, but very little of it is now standing; the superstructure is entirely gone, and none of the temples of this form are sufficiently complete to allow a conjecture as to their original form. The roof of the portico and the shrine is composed of large granite slabs, a linga now occupies the shrine, and there is a mutilated figure of Ganesh lying outside. Judging by the size of the mound, and the part of the shrine remaining, the temple must have been a lofty one...".[1]

The pillars are made of granite in one block. They form a portico which is still standing in front of the temple.[2]

This temple is said to be similar to the temple of Poonawa, 14 miles east of Gaya.[3]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/b/019pho0000125s1u00065000.html British Library Online
  2. https://books.google.com/books?id=MENQAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA50 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 35,Partie 1, p.50
  3. https://books.google.com/books?id=MENQAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA59 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 35,Partie 1, p.59