Trivikrama_Temple
Trivikrama Temple
Hindu temple in Maharashtra, India
The Trivikrama Temple, also named Ter Temple, is a temple of Vamana (an incarnation of Vishnu) in Ter, Maharashtra. Henry Cousens, followed by most later writers, believed that it was originally a Buddhist temple, however in 1957 M. S. Mate disputed this view.[1]
The temple is original in that it was initially based on a free-standing apsidal structure, now located at the back of the building, which is characteristic of early Buddhist apsidal caityagriha designs.[2] The apsidal structure seems to be contemporary to the great apsidal temple found in Sirkap, Taxila, which is dated to 30 BCE-50 CE.[2] It would have been built under the Satavahanas, in the 2nd or 3rd century CE.[3]
The external flat-roofed mandapa structure is probably only an addition from the 6th century CE, when the temple was converted into a Hindu temple.[2] A stone image of Trivikrama probably dates to the early Chalukyas.[3]
The front of the apsidal temple is decorated with a chaitya-arch, similar to those found in Buddhist rock-cut architecture.[2]
Another known Hindu temple constructed in a Chaitya-style, is the Pallava period Kapoteswara temple at Chezarla in Guntur district. The legend behind the deity Kapoteswara is the story of Sibi in Mahabharata which also occurs in Sibi Jataka[4]
The Trivikrama Temple is considered as the oldest standing structure in Maharashtra.[3]
- Side view
- View of the upper part of the temple
- Plan and elevation of the Trivikrama Temple.
- Reconstitution of the original Buddhist apsidal temple.
- The ancient Buddhist chaitya house at Ter.
