CHAUSATH
YOGINI TEMPLE - ART & CULTURE
News: Curtains for old Parliament
building: The Madhya Pradesh temple believed to have inspired it
What's
in the news?
●
The grand Chausath Yogini temple stands
atop a hillock in Mitaoli, about 40
kilometres from Gwalior, in the Morena district of Madhya Pradesh.
Key
takeaways:
●
The temple was built around 1323 by King
Devapala of the Kachchhapaghata dynasty.
●
The old Parliament will be turned into a
museum, designed by British architects
Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker when the British decided to move their
capital to New Delhi, the 164-pillared building first housed the Imperial
Legislative Council (From January 18, 1927 to August 15, 1947).
●
However, Hardinge made Lutyens and Baker
visit most of the ancient and medieval sites of northern and central India for
inspiration, like Mandu, Lahore, Lucknow, Kanpur, and Indore.
Features
of Chausath Yogini Temple:
●
The Mitaoli temple is circular, with 64 chambers dedicated to the 64 yoginis, and a central
shrine dedicated to Shiva.
●
The Parliament-like pillars are on the
inside of the stone temple complex.
●
The central shrine has a slab with
perforations, for excess rainwater to drain off.
●
The idols and carvings that would have
once adorned the 64 chambers are all gone, and so not much is known about the
temple.
As per the locals living in this region, the
Chausath Yogini temple inspires the Parliament.