Bhojeśvar or Bhojasvāmin temple

Bhojpur is famous for the incomplete Bhojeśvar temple dedicated to Shiva. The site is under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India as a monument of national importance. The temple houses one of the largest liṅga-s in India, 5.5 m (18 ft) tall and 2.3 m (7.5 ft) in circumference. It is crafted out a single rock.^[6] The liṅga was repaired by the Archaeological Survey of India who also added a roof over the top to prevent weather damage.

The attribution of the temple to Bhoja is based on the testimony of Merutuṅga, who reports in the Prabandhacintāmaṇi that Bhoja bestowed on the poet Māgha "all the merit of the new Bhojasvāmin temple that he was about to build himself", and then "set out for the country of Mālava".^[7] The style of the sculpture on the building confirms an early to mid-eleventh-century date for the structure.

The building as it stands consists of the inner cella or garbhagṛha, supported by massive pillars, surmounted with an elegant corbelled dome. The outer walls and superstructure of the temple were never built, but unfinished parts lie nearby.

Quarries and rock drawings

The temple at Bhojpur is unique in being left unfinished, with a series of large architectural parts still located in the quarries where the stones were cut and fashioned. In addition, there are a significant number of architectural drawings engraved on the flat surfaces of the quarry showing mouldings, pillars, and temple plans.^[8] Also of note is the large earthen ramp behind the temple which shows how medieval craftsmen raised the large blocks of stone into position. The drawings and architectural parts have been subject to in-depth study and with a book on the subject published by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.^[9]

Jain temples

Bhojpur also has an unfinished Jain temple containing a 6 metres (20 ft) tall statue of Bhagwan Shantinath and two statues of Bhagwan Parshvanath (left) and Bhagwan Suparshvanatha (right). On the base of the central images of Lord Shatinath there is an inscription mentioning king Bhoja, the only epigraphic evidence connecting Bhoja to the site.^[10] The Suparshanath image on left has an inscription date samvat 1157 which mentions Naravarman, the nephew of king Bhoja, and mentions that the two smaller idols were installed by the grandson of Nemichandra of Vemaka community, who had installed the main image in the middle^[11] The same temple complex hosts shrine for Ācārya Manatunga who wrote Bhaktamara Stotra.

Cave of Pārvatī

Immediately opposite the temple, on the west side of the gorge facing the Betwā, is a rock-shelter or cave, now occupied by religious mendicants. Popularly known as Pārvatī's Cave, the cave contains a number of sculptures and architectural fragments dating to the eleventh century.

Remains of Bhoja's Royal Palace

On the low plateau above the Cave of Pārvatī and opposite the Bhojpur temple are the remains of Bhoja's palace. Only the foundations survive. The complex is laid out as a grid in a square, with a courtyard in the centre (see site plan above). It is oriented on an exact north-south axis as prescribed in the Samarāṅganasūtradhāra, an architectural treatise ascribed to Bhoja.^[12] Among the many features of interest are unfinished carved blocks and graffiti engraved on the rock floor. The latter includes diagrams for games and a series of names dating to the eleventh century and later. The palace is a unique survival, being the only medieval building of its kind in northern India. Its association with Bhoja and its close conformity to a text ascribed to the king mark it out as a site of national and international cultural importance. The site of the palace, like the neighbouring dams, is unprotected. The remains of the palace are being slowly destroyed as local people collect stones for modern building purposes.