Martand Sun Temple

In News

• The Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor participated in a religious ceremony held in the ruins of the 8th century Martand Sun temple, a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India. 
  • This temple has been recognised as a “Site of national importance”.

Martand Sun Temple

• The Martand Sun Temple is a Hindu temple located near the city of Anantnag in the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir.
• It dates back to the eighth century AD and was dedicated to Surya, the chief solar deity in Hinduism.
• It was once a thriving place of worship, commissioned by Lalitaditya Muktapida.
• It was destroyed by Sikandar Shah Miri in the 14th century.
• It was an excellent specimen of Kashmiri architecture, which had blended the Gandharan, Gupta and Chinese forms of architecture.
• The Archaeological Survey of India has declared the Martand Sun Temple as a site of national importance in Jammu and Kashmir. 

Who was Lalitaditya Muktapida?

• Lalitaditya was the most powerful ruler of the Karkota dynasty of Kashmir. 
• The 12th-century chronicler, Kalhana characterizes Lalitaditya as a world conqueror in his ‘Rajtarangini’. He ruled for 37 years from 724 to 761 CE. 
• His rule is considered a golden age in Kashmir where art, architecture and learning flourished. Due to his conquests, scholars have called him Alexander of Kashmir. Kalhan’s ‘Rajtarangini’ states that the Karkota dynasty was founded by king Durlabhvardana in 625 CE. Lalitaditya was the 5th ruler.
• He built the largest empire after Ashoka.  Lalitaditya founded the township of Parihasapura on a plateau near Srinagar city . This township had many temples with images of Vishnu, Shiva, and Buddha.

Other Living Monuments

• The best-known example of a living ASI monument is the Taj Mahal in Agra.
• Other notable living monuments include the remains of an old Hindu temple inside the Dayaram Fort in Hathras, three mosques in Kannauj, Roman Catholic Church in Meerut, and Nila Mosque in Delhi’s Hauz Khas Village, Bajreshwari Devi Temple in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba, and several Buddhist monasteries in Ladakh.

Violation of ASI Rules

• The ASI, which functions under the Ministry of Culture, is the custodian of the protected monument.
  • It deemed the incident to be a violation of its rules.
  • Prayers are allowed at its protected sites only if they were “functioning places of worship” at the time it took charge of them.
  • No religious rituals can be conducted at non-living monuments where there has been no continuity of worship since it became an ASI-protected site.
  • Thus, at the time the ASI took over the temple ruins in the 20th century for conservation, no puja or Hindu ritual was being held there.

Source: IE