Location: Madhya Pradesh
Dedicated to: Lord Shiva
Built in: 11th Century
Built by: king Bhoja and Paramar
Bhojeshwar Shiva Temple is located in Madhya Pradesh in Bhojpur district and is not yet completely built. In the sanctum of the temple there is a huge Shiva lingam of 7.5 feet. The temple is dedicated to worshipping Lord Shiva. The archaeological excavations reveal that the temple was built in the 11th century when king Bhoja and Paramar were the rulers. The construction of the temple was stopped for unknown reasons though the architectural plans were carved on the rocks in the surrounding of the temple. All the left structures and drawings at the site have helped the architectures understand the construction style of the 11th century. The archeological survey of India has given this temple national importance.
Bhojeshwar Shiva Temple believed to have been built by King Bhoja and Paramar, is also belived to have built the city of Bhojpur and also few dams in the nearby area. There are no dedicatory inscriptions on the temple because of the incomplete structure of the temple. The belief that the temple was built in 11th century is strengthened from the fact that a Jain temple in the city has similar set of mansion marks on as the Bhojeshwar temple and an inscription of dated to 1035 CE. Further it is observed that the construction of such a huge Shiva temple could have been built only by a powerful ruler. The temple was initially built on the bank of a reservoir 7.5 miles wide and 18.5 in length, which was built from construction of three dams during the reign of king Bhoja.
The temple's construction has been abandoned in between and abruptly. Although the reason behind the abandonment of the temple's construction is not known yet but speculations say that, it may have occurred due to some natural disaster or lack of some resources or there may have ben a war like situation which may have resulted into the abandonment.
Because of the damage caused due to rainwater during 1950 the temple had become extremely weak structurally. And therefore the, Government of India handed it over to the Archaeological survey of India in 1951, for its preservation. This was done in accordance with the Monuments Preservation act 1904. Also, during the early 1990s, the damaged steps of the temple have been repaired by the ASI and the missing ones were restored. ASI also restored the North-West corner of the temple.
The temple has ben built on a 115 feet long, 82 feet wide and 13 feet high platform. There is a sanctum on the platform with a gigantic Shiva Lingam. The lingam has been built using three limestones which are superimposed with one over the other and it has a height of about 7.5 feet. The lingam has been placed on a square shaped platform. The sanctum's doorway is 33 feet in height and there are sculptures of apsaras engraved on the walls at the entrance gate.
