SSC
The Meguti Jain Temple, which bears the famous inscription of Ravikirti, is located in:
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Answer: Option C — Karnataka
Detailed Solution
The Meguti Jain Temple is located on the Meguti hill at Aihole, in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka.
About the Meguti Temple:
- It was built in 634 CE by Ravikirti, the court poet of the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II.
- It is dedicated to a Jain Tirthankara (believed to be Mahavira).
- It is one of the earliest dated structural temples in South India.
- It is built in the Dravidian style, on a raised platform.
- Its name comes from "Meguti" (meaning "upper" or "on the top"), as it stands on top of a hill.
The Aihole inscription:
- The temple's wall bears the famous "Aihole inscription" (Aihole Prashasti), composed by Ravikirti in Sanskrit in the "Kannada-Telugu" script.
- It is a "prashasti" (eulogy) of Pulakeshin II.
- It describes his victories, especially his defeat of King Harshavardhana of Kannauj on the banks of the Narmada river.
It mentions famous poets Kalidasa and Bharavi, saying that Ravikirti's fame equalled theirs. This helps date Kalidasa to before the 7th century.
It is dated to 634-635 CE (556 years of the Shaka era), and also gives a date counted from the Mahabharata war.
About Aihole:
- It is called the "cradle of Indian temple architecture", because the Chalukyas experimented with many temple styles here.
- It has more than 120 temples of the 5th to 12th centuries.
- Important temples include the Durga Temple (apsidal, or semicircular, in plan) and the Hucchimalli Gudi.
Nearby places:
- Badami (Vatapi), the Chalukya capital, with its rock-cut cave temples.
- A nearby group of Chalukya temples is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1987).
About Pulakeshin II:
- He ruled from about 610 to 642 CE.
- He sent an embassy to the Persian ruler Khusrau II.
- He was defeated and killed by the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, who captured Vatapi in 642 CE and took the title "Vatapikonda".
- The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited his kingdom.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Gujarat has Jain temples at Palitana and Girnar.
- ✗Rajasthan has the Dilwara (Mount Abu) and Ranakpur Jain temples.
- ✗Madhya Pradesh has Jain temples at Khajuraho and Sonagiri.
Quick tip
Remember: Meguti Jain Temple = Aihole, Bagalkot, Karnataka (634 CE; Aihole inscription by Ravikirti praising Pulakeshin II's victory over Harsha); Aihole = "cradle of Indian temple architecture"; Badami = Chalukya capital.
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Monuments & Religious Places — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Monuments & Religious Places, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's important monuments, temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and pilgrimage sites, who built them and when, their architectural styles, and India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Questions ask who built a monument, where it is located, or which dynasty or style it belongs to. For example, the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, and the Sun Temple at Konark was built by the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. Revise the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a list, noting the most recent additions. Practise the monuments and religious places questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.