Masrur Rockcut
Temple
Masrur is 32 km from
Kangra on Nagrota Surian link road
and is famous for remarkable group of rock cut temples. They
form a group of 15 monolithic rock cut temples in the Indo
Aryan style and are richly carved.
These richly ornamented cave temples are the only rock
shrines in the northern part of India.The main shrine contains three stone images
of Ram laxman and Sita but
the presence of the figure of Shiva in
the centre of the lintel affords a strong presumption that the
temple was originally dedicated to Mahadeva.
Before dealing with the questions of its builders and the
time of its construction, it is important to discuss the rock-cut
technique and the place this temple-complex occupies among the
rockhewn monuments in India. The rock-cut style started in the reign
of the Pallava king Narsingha varman I
Mahamalla (630-668 A.D.) during the first half of the seventh
century . It reached its climax in the Kailasha temples
at Ellora which were taken in hand during the reign of the
Rashtrakuta King Dantidurga (753- 756 A.D.) and finished during that
of Krishna I (758-773 A.D.). Though rock-cut caves are common in
South India, yet temples cut out of freestanding rocks, known to
archaeologists and art critics, are only four in number-'Rathas of
Mammalapuram', 'Kailashas at Ellora', 'temple-complex at Masrur in
Kangra' and the 'Dharmnatha temple at Dhamnar', 65 miles to the
South-East of Jhalra Patan in Rajasthan. The
Rathas and the Kailashas are built in the Dravidian style, whereas
the Masrur and Dhamnar ones are in the Nagara style. Masrur beats
its Nagara rival in situation, size and execution. The Masrur
complex has 15 temples, the Dhamnar has onl y 8. At Masrur temples
not separate from it surround the central shrine, but at Dhamnar the
smaller ones are entirely separate from the main one. Carvings and
ornamentation at Masrur are of a much superior order than at Dhamnar
and the length of the latter is one- third of the former. The
Dhamnar group has been built in a pit-like hollow, whereas the
Masrur group is on top of a 2500 feet high hill range. One looks
below, the other looks up. One depresses, the other elates. In point
of situation, Masrur beats the other two also. Ellora Kailasha are built in a pit a
hundred feet. However, Kailasha at Ellora is a supreme
creation, one of the wonders of the world.
Rock-cut style is much
more difficult than the structural one. In the latter, the artist
shapes the material as he likes, whereas in the former the Material
determines the way the artist should move. The limitation makes an
artist creation out of a rock a most difficult task and the ability
with which the remote artist of seventh and eighth centuries carried
out their purpose is superhuman. Only a few of the original
shikharas stand and some of the most beautifully carved panels are
now in the state museum, Shimla. The main shrine dominates the
centre. Although the remote location of these temples protected them
from the invading army of Mahmud Ghazni and their stone construction
prevented severe damage in the 1905 earthquake.
