Chausath Yogini Temple

Syllabus: GS-1/Art and Culture, Temples of India
In News

• It is believed that the building of the Old Indian Parliament may have been inspired from the Chausath Yogini Temple, Madhya Pradesh.

History of Old Parliament House

• The Old Parliament Building was designed by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker and was constructed between 1921 and 1927.
• The foundation stone was laid by HRH Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, in 1921.
• It was inaugurated in January 1927 by Viceroy Lord Irwin as the seat of the Imperial Legislative Council.
• The third session of the Central Legislative Assembly was held in this house on 19 January 1927.
• Following the British withdrawal from India, it was taken over by the Constituent Assembly of India, and then by the Indian Parliament after India’s Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950.
• For 73 years, it housed the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the lower and upper houses respectively in India’s bicameral parliament.

About the Chausath Yogini Temple

• It is situated in Mitaoli village, in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh.
• It was built by King Devpala  of the Kachchhapaghata dynasty and was the venue of providing education in astrology and mathematics based on the transit of the Sun.
• The Archaeological Survey of India has declared the temple an ancient and historical monument. 
• It is also known as Ekattarso Mahadeva Temple because of the presence of a multitude of shiva lingas inside its cells. 
• It is circular, with 64 chambers dedicated to the 64 yoginis, and a central shrine dedicated to Shiva. 
• Within the main central shrine there are slab coverings which have perforations in them to drain rainwater to a large underground storage. 
• The design of the temple has withstood earthquake shocks, without any damage to its circular structural features, in the past several centuries. 

Source: IE