in bits and pieces
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| A corner of the Reading Room in the Women’s College at Srinagar. 1956 |
Awantisvara temple is located near the hamlet of Jaubrar about a kilometer to the north-west of the Awantiswamin temple. While leaving Srinagar and moving onto Bijbehara, this is the first ruin of Avanitpur.
This temple too is believed to have been built by King Avantivarman (AD 855 – 883 AD), the first king of the Utpala dynasty.
Archaeologist Debala Mitra gives the layout of the complex:
“Facing the west, the complex consists of a panchayatana temple in the middle of an oblong courtyard, two subsidiary shrines (one each at the north-easter anf south-eastern corners)”, a quadrangular array of cells around the periphery of the courtyard and a double chambered imposing gateway in the centre of the western row of cells in two flanks.”
The ruins suggest that the temple was laid to be a immense monument but for unknown reasons the construction was never completed.
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| From the book ‘Pandrethan, Avantipur & Martand’ (1977) by Debala Mitra |
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| What would have been a ‘ghata– (pot) shaped’ pillar. Something not found in design of Awantiswamin temple. |
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| “The interior of the central shrine is still covered with a heap of large stones, and it is not yet known if any fragments of the image of Avantisvara-Mahadeva, which was worshipped in this temple, will be found.” ~ D. R. Sahni in 1913 after doing the initial digging. |
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| The relief of Avantivarman and his queen. The ground is littered with stones bearing such carving which were meant to be part of the temple. |
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| Some part of the relief is buried under the ground |
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| The injury to the stone is definitely recent and man made. From the book ‘Pandrethan, Avantipur & Martand’ (1977) by Debala Mitra, the carved stone in a more pristine form. Apparently there is something about breasts that makes the modern man very violent. |
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| Found this beautifully carved and selectively mutilated stone slab sitting under a tree somewhere in Gurgaon, right next to a yellow, dusty, empty plot. [2010] |
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| This is one of the fluted shafts of the smaller shrines around the main complex |
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| Vidyadhara, or the wisdom holders |
In 2014, Awantiswamin is kept by ASI as site keeping in mind the tourists, there is an office and a ticketing system, while Awantisvara is more like a local public park. It is open for everyone with just a low barrier at the main outside gate designed to keep out the animals.
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Previously:
Complete Guide to Awantiswamin Temple, Avantipur
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| Burke’s photograph from 1868 for Henry Hardy Cole’s Archaeological Survey of India report, ‘Illustrations of Ancient Buildings in Kashmir’ (1869). |
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| A postcard from Lambert’s Kashmir series. Must be around 1910 when J. C. Chatterji did the primary digging. Below: A Photograph from ‘Our summer in the vale of Kashmir’ (1915) by Frederick Ward Denys. 
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| 1956 from a book published by Indian Publications Division |
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| From Debala Mitra’s ‘Pandrethan, Avantipur & Martand’ 1977 Photograph by Ranjit Mitra |
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| ASI postcard from 1970s |
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| Avantipur, 2014 |
Previously:
Complete Guide to Awantiswamin Temple, Avantipur
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| Ruler on a boat with attendants 17th century, reign of Jahangir British Museum Jahangir’s trip to Wular Lake |
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| George Landseer (1834–78) painted it in 1881 but depicts scene from 1860 when he accompanied Lord Canning, Governor-General of India from 1856-62, to Kashmir. |
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| ‘The Viceroy’s tour in Kashmir – The procession of boats with his excellency nearing the Sumbul Bridge (Sumbal in Baramulla district) on the way to Srinagar’ -The Graphic. 18th December, 1891. Lord Lansdowne (1888 – 1894) was the viceroy at the time and setting up of Durand Commission for defining boundary of British India and Afghanistan was one of the high-points of his career. |
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| Maharaja’s Boat From Francis Frith’s album. Around 1850s to 1870s. via: Victoria and Albert Museum. |
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| The State Barge From an album by Bourne & Shepherd. 1880. via: bonhams.com |
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| A famous image from Maharaja’s Procession cover of Italian weekly newspaper newspaper ‘La Domenica Del Corriere’, 11 January, 1925. This is from time when Biscoe boys also took up boats besides the boatmen of Kashmmir |
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| Boat of Lord Irwin Viceroy of India [1926–31], 1927 By Franklin Price Knott for National Geographic |
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| Russian Leaders Nikolai Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev’s boat procession, 1955 via: Indian Photo Division |
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“The picturesque river procession on the Jhelum (September 24, 1949) which was one of the festive items during the meeting of the Kashmir National conference. The boat carrying Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sheikh Mohd. Abdullah appears at the centre of the picture.”
via: Indian Photo Division
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| Boat procession caught by James Burke undated for Life Magazine Based on the message “we convoke the constituent assembly”…it is probably 1951. |
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| The is a welcome message for Nehru from ‘Shri Bhairavnath Trust, Chattabal’ ! |
Chattabal the place I come from was the usual start or end point of these later procession. And that trust was the pundit organisation associated with the Bairov temple of Chattabal, a temple which was later shut down in 1970s and burnt in 1990s. My grandfather was a member of the trust.
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The only boat frenzy I have witnessed comes from a land as rich in boat traditions but where it is not a thing of the past. It is still alive and celebrated.
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| Aranmula boat race, Kerala 2013 |
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When Kashmiris wanted to burn someone, they would often choose Mansur. Burning of Persian Sufi Mansur Al-Hallaj (c. 858 – March 26, 922) in Baghdad, was one of the most common idioms in Kashmiri sufi poetry.
If Lal Ded is considered the beginning of Kashmiri poetry, even in some of the lines attributed to her, we find Mansur. And Mansur is there in lines of Nund Rishi:
Koran Paraan Paraan kuna mudukh
Koran Paraan Paraan kun gai suur
Koran Paraan Paraan Zind kith ruzukh
Koran Paraan Paraan dodh Mansur
Why didn’t you die listening to Koran
How many turned to ashes listening to Koran
How did you live listening to Koran
Listening to Koran, Mansoor went ablaze
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A leaf from an illustrated manuscript on poetry, Kashmir, 19th century.
via: christies.com.
The scene depicts the burning and crucification of Mansur al-Hallaj.
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“Nawara, these boats were fashioned into fanciful shapes such as wild animals, etc. They were roofed in at one end, which was covered with broad cloth; they were better finished and lighter than a common boat (kishti). The boatmen were mostly from Kashmir and used Kashmiri calls to each other when working.“
Source was given as Mirat-Ul-Istilah (1745) of Anand Ram Mukhlis who was giving a description of Babar’s boating experience. Nawara, the Mughal word for river fleets, may now be an unfamiliar term in South Asia but boat people in another part of Asia do recognize it. Nawara or Nawa Rupa is part of boat legends of Myanmar.
And now, I finally have the graphical representation these boats and their Kashmiri oarsmen.
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| Ruler on a boat with attendants 17th century, reign of Jahangir British Museum |
I came across it in the book ‘The Arts of Kashmir’ Ed. by Pratapaditya Pal. In the chapter on ‘Panting and Calligraphy (1200-1900)’, Pratapaditya Pal presents it as the Mughal representation of Kashmiri landscape. In this painting a royal can be seen visiting the island of Zaina Lank in Wular lake. Although the inscription mentions the name of Akbar, Pratapaditya Pal assumes it is a mistake as memoirs of Jahangir, Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri mention his visit to the island. However, Abul Fazl’s Ain-i-Akbari also mentions the man-made island of Zain-ul-abidin in Wular. Also, Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri does at times reuse Abul Fazl’s writings for description of places. Particularly in case of Kashmir which the two visited together in 1589. Jahangir’s writing are more detailed about Kashmir probably because of his thirteen or so visits.
What is interesting in this painting, beside the animal boats, is the way ‘race’ distinctions are represented in it.
The boatman of the royalty has a prominent nose while the royals have an aquiline nose. The boatman has a very Kashmiri nose that sets him apart from the others. So the first persons besides royalties to be painted in Kashmir (and later photographed) were its boatmen. The boatmen whose ancestors built the island in Wular by unloading the countless stones into it on the orders of Zain-ul-abidin.
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| Identifier: The sideburns Jahangir holding the picture of Madonna (1620 AD) National Museum Delhi |
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Previously:
Kashmiri Boatmen in Mughal river fleet
Aurangzeb’s Kashmir fleet
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| Goddess of Dance, Indrani 7th Century, Kashmir Sri Pratap Museum This Goddess of Dance, Indrani 7th Century, Kashmir Sri Pratap Museum This one was came from Badamibagh in 1926. About 20 other were found in Pandrethan between 1923 and 1933 while digging of military barracks were going on in the area. More than 500 relics were found. Now not much remains. |
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| Kashmiri Dancing Girl at Shalimar photograph by Herford Tynes Cowling, for National Geographic Magazine, October 1929. |
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| Vyjayanthimala in Amrapali inserted into a comic panel based on story of Hamsavali from Somadeva’s Kathasaritsagara. Somadeva, son of Brahman Rama, composed the Kathasaritasagara (between 1063 and 1081) for Queen Suryavati, daughter of Indu, the king of Trigarta (Jalandhar). She was the wife of King Anantadeva, who ruled Kashmir in the eleventh century. The story of Suryavati, Ananta, Kalsa and Harsha is perhaps the gruesomest tale from Rajatarangini that ends with Anata killing himself by sitting on a dagger and Suryavati going ablaze. |
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2017
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| What can’t you get in Kashmir? You can get everything Raj Kumar in ‘Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai’ (1960) |
It has to be everything.
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About 28 kilometers southeast of Srinagar, on the right bank of upriver Jhelum, on the main road to Bijbehara, are located the ruins that mark the Awantiswamin Temple. Travelling by road to Kashmir, this is the first major historic site that one gets to see. The place is know as Vantipor or Avantipor and was founded by King Avantivarman (AD 855 – 883 AD), the first king of the Utpala dynasty, on the ancient site called Visvaikasara.
The first mention of these ruins in old western travelogues can be found in George Forster writing about his visit to the place in 1783 although he identified it as Bhyteenpur. Then in writing of Moorcroft who visited the place in 1823, Baron Hugel in around 1835 , Vigne in around 1837. All of them saw a confusing mass of stones hinting at remains of ancient ruins buried under ground.
Alexander Cunningham in about 1848 took the first serious look at the ruins, did some basic digging, exposing remains of a bigger structure. Even though a lot his assumptions were proved to be wrong (like his assertion that the temple must have been dedicated to Shiva and the size of the temple).
The scene was recored for posterity by John Burke in 1868 and presented in Henry Hardy Cole’s Archaeological Survey of India report, ‘Illustrations of Ancient Buildings in Kashmir’ (1869).
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| Photo1: Burke’s photograph from 1868 |
The first serious excavation work at Avantipur began at a cost of about 5000 rupees in 1910 under J. C. Chatterji on recommendation of Sir John Marshall to the state Durbar in 1907. His digging went to no more than 7 feet below ground level i.e. about 8 feet about the courtyard floor level of the temple. Chatterji found some copper coins and charred remains of a birch-bark manuscript. The floor, several stairs, central shrine and the basement of peristyle remained buried.
Then in 1913, Daya Ram Sahni did the second and most extensive round of excavations at the site. His findings were first published in ‘Annual report of the archaeological survey of India 1913-14’ under title ‘Excavations at Avantipur’.
It was this dig that uncovered the structures that we see it today at the site. The excavation also revealed artefacts that shed light on the way Kashmiris lived their life during various eras as coins of various kings and earthenware were uncovered. Among other things he found earthen heating bowls, the kind used by boatmen and poor in Kashmir. He found jars with still some corn in them, the same kind that were used in Kashmir till recent times. He found evidence that during various eras, a part of the structure may have continued to be used as a religious site by the Brahmins.
The ruinous state of the ancient temple (as in case of almost all ancient temples in Kashmir) was and is attributed to Sikandar Butshikan. But, supporting an earlier claim by Cunningham, Sahni found that “The courtyard of the temple had filled up with silt for more than two-thirds of the height of the colonnade already before the time of Sikandar [Butshikan].” During violent eras only the structure above ground had suffered. In this way one of Kashmir’s the most finely decorated ancient structure was discovered. It’s fortunate well preserved state a result of nature’s small mercy in the form of silting from either a catastrophic event or slow changing of Vitasta’s course and it’s flood area saving it from the hands of both man and nature during much of 13th and 14 century.
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| Photo2: Ground Plan of Awantiswamin temple by Sahni |
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| Photo3:What must have been ‘recently excavated’ Avantipur. Photograph by Ambrose Petrocokino in 1917 [‘Cashmere: three weeks in a houseboat’ (1920) ] |
Awantiswamin temple was built by Avantivarman in around 855 CE. Kalhana’s Rajatarangini tells us it was just before his accession to throne and also mentions that this was this fortress like temple in which royal officers of King Jayasimha (1128-1154 A.D.) successfully survived a siege by Damaras (feudal barons of ancient Kashmir), an event that must have occurred during Kalhana’s time. Before the excavation, some of the observers had assumed that the temple was dedicated to Shiva (Baron Hugel without much evidence actually thought it was a Buddist temple) . But once the base of the temple was excavated, Awantiswamin temple was found to be devoted to Vishnu. Avantivarman did built a Shiva temple which is nearby and is now known as Avantishovra Temple.
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| Photo 8: Built in Grey Limestone prone to vagaries of nature |
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| Photo 9: Ganga in niche on left with lotus in right hand, quadrangle porch, outer chamber, northern wall. Identified because in left hand she has a vessel and is riding a crocodile |
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| Photo 10 |
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| Photo 12: Yamuna in niche on right with lotus in left hand, quadrangle porch, outer chamber, southern wall. Her ride, the tortoise was missing even in 1913 [more about Ganga Yamuna iconography in Kashmir] |
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| Photo 13: Medallions in lower part represent Garuda |
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| Photo 21: Left wall to the stairs. |
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| Photo 22: Six armed Vishnu with his consorts |
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| Photo 23 |
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| Photo 24: Right block of the staircase |
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| Photo 25:
Sahni presumed this one too to be of Vishnu. He writes, “The subject depicted on the front of the other flank is identical, except that the figure of Vishnu is four-armed and his forehead-mark is similar to that of the goddesses.” |
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| Photo 26: Left block of the staircase |
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| Photo 27: King with his queens and attendants Inner side of Left block near stair case Sahni, had suggested that it might be the image of a Brahma. The scholars now agree the the image represents the chief patron of the temple, the King. “Whether the fiure stands for King Utpalapida, Sukhavarman who became the de facto ruler or Avantivarman himself is not know”[Debala Mitra, Pandrethan, Avantipur & Martand, 1977] |
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| Photo 28: The Geese Motiff also found on Harwan tiles |
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| Photo 29: A Harwan tile |
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| Photo 30: Prince with his queens and attendants Inner side right block |
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| Photo 31 |
The particular block is interesting as Sahni in 1913 had identified it as Krishna and the Gopis. He writes, “The central figure presumably represents the youthful Krishna standing facing with a flower bud in each hand. To his right and left are archangels bringing presents of sweets and garlands in the upper corners. To the proper right of Krishna we notice a pair of figures, the lower one being a female (cowherdess), who is feeding a cow from a bowl. The other figures on this side and the four figures on the other side may be cowherd boys (gopa).”
The scholars [Debala Mitra, Pandrethan, Avantipur & Martand, 1977] now consider this to be image of a Prince, possibly Avantivarman.
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| Photo 32 |
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| Photo 33: Inner Courtyard |
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| Photo 34: The central structure Back in 1913, Sahni noticed that the blocks were used by people as construction material in Srinagar. The central statue was never found only parts of pedestals |
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| Photo 35: Left block was dedicated to Ganga. These are of a slightly later date than the main structure. |
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| Photo 36 |
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| Photo 42 |
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Under ASI, it is one of the best maintained of ancient monuments in Kashmir. The entrance only costs rupees five. I visited the place in the afternoon of 22 February 2014 in midst of wintry showers. There were no tourists. I found my self alone in the ruins. Well, almost alone. The government tourist guide, a guy with a crazy eye, proved to be surprisingly good. He knew the basics and the important elementary facts about the site perfectly. He took no extra money for the service and in fact refused extra money. At the end of his guided tour, he was in for a pleasant shock when he realised that I was no normal tourist but a fellow Kashmiri.
If the place was somehow again buried today, in a couple of hundred years when they dig it up again, they would find bottles of cold drink and assume the climate of Kashmir had started changing. They would look at the marks of fresh violence on the stones and assume man was heading no where.
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To be updated with download link for Sahni’s papers.
Read: ‘Excavations at Avantipura’ by D. R. Sahni in ‘Annual report of the archaeological survey of India 1913-14’.
