SSC
The Mundeshwari Temple, considered one of the oldest functional Hindu temples in India, is located in:
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Answer: Option D — Bihar
Detailed Solution
The Mundeshwari Temple is located on the Mundeshwari Hill (Pawra Pahar), in the Kaimur district of Bihar, near Bhabua.
About the Mundeshwari Temple:
It is regarded as one of the oldest functional (still in worship) Hindu temples in the world.
An inscription found at the site is dated to 108 CE according to some scholars, while others date the temple to the 4th-7th centuries CE (the Gupta or later Gupta period). The Archaeological Survey of India dates the temple to about the 7th century.
It is dedicated to Goddess Mundeshwari (a form of Shakti) and Lord Shiva. The temple has a four-faced Shiva lingam ("Chaturmukha lingam") at its centre and an image of the goddess Mundeshwari, shown as Varahi with ten arms.
It is built of stone and has a rare octagonal plan, one of the earliest examples of this design in North India.
A unique tradition here is the "bloodless sacrifice": goats are offered to the goddess, but they are not killed. The priest sprinkles rice and flowers on the goat, which faints and then revives.
It is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The Bihar State Religious Trust Board manages the temple.
Other ancient sites in Bihar:
- Nalanda Mahavihara and Vikramashila (ancient universities).
- Rajgir: the first capital of Magadha.
- Vaishali: where the Buddha preached his last sermon and where the second Buddhist Council was held.
- Pataliputra (Patna): capital of the Maurya and Gupta empires.
- Barabar Caves (Jehanabad): the oldest rock-cut caves in India (Mauryan period).
- Pawapuri: where Mahavira attained nirvana.
- Vishnupad Temple (Gaya).
About Kaimur:
The Kaimur district is part of the Kaimur plateau (an extension of the Vindhya range); it also has the Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary, the largest in Bihar, and waterfalls such as Telhar Kund.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Jharkhand has temples such as Baidyanath Dham (Deoghar) and Rajrappa.
- ✗Uttar Pradesh has old Gupta-period temples.
- ✗Odisha has temples such as Lingaraja and Jagannath.
Quick tip
Remember: Mundeshwari Temple = Kaimur district, Bihar (one of the oldest functional Hindu temples; octagonal stone temple; Shiva and Goddess Mundeshwari; "bloodless sacrifice"); Barabar Caves = oldest rock-cut caves (Mauryan).
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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.