SSC
The Dashavatara Temple at Deogarh (Uttar Pradesh) belongs to which architectural style?
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Answer: Option A — Panchayatana style
Detailed Solution
The Dashavatara Temple at Deogarh, in the Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh, is an early example of the "Panchayatana" style of temple design.
What is Panchayatana?
"Panchayatana" means "five shrines".
In this layout, the main shrine stands in the centre of a raised platform, with four smaller subsidiary shrines at the four corners. Together they form five shrines.
The main deity is in the central shrine, and related deities are in the corner shrines.
The Panchayatana style later became common in North Indian (and some South Indian) temples, for example the Kandariya Mahadeva and Lakshmana temples at Khajuraho, and the Brahmeswara Temple at Bhubaneswar.
The term is also used for the "Panchayatana puja" popularised by Adi Shankaracharya, worshipping five deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya and Ganesha.
About the Dashavatara Temple:
- It was built in the early 6th century CE (around 500-525 CE), during the Gupta period.
- It is dedicated to Lord Vishnu; "Dashavatara" refers to his ten incarnations.
- It is built of stone and stands on a raised square platform (jagati).
- It is one of the earliest North Indian temples to have a tower (shikhara) over the sanctum, though the upper part of the tower has collapsed.
It is famous for its sculpted panels on the outer walls:
- "Sheshashayi Vishnu" (Anantashayana): Vishnu reclining on the serpent Sheshnaga (south wall).
- "Gajendra Moksha": Vishnu saving the elephant king Gajendra from a crocodile (north wall).
- "Nara-Narayana": the twin sages performing penance (east wall).
- Its doorway is richly carved, with images of the river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna.
- It was rediscovered and studied by Alexander Cunningham, who named it the "Gupta Temple"; it was later called "Dashavatara".
About Deogarh:
- It lies on the banks of the Betwa river, near the border of Madhya Pradesh.
- It also has a group of 31 Jain temples on a hill, built between the 8th and 17th centuries.
Other temple architectural terms:
- Bhumija: a sub-style of the northern style, with miniature spires in rows on the tower (as at the Udayeshwar Temple, Udaypur, Madhya Pradesh).
- Vesara: a mix of northern and southern styles, used by the later Chalukyas and the Hoysalas.
- Dravida: the southern style.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Dravida is the South Indian style.
- ✗Vesara is the mixed style of the Deccan.
- ✗Bhumija is a later sub-style of the northern temple style.
Quick tip
Remember: Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh (Lalitpur, UP) = Panchayatana layout (central shrine with four corner shrines; Gupta period, about 500 CE; Vishnu on Sheshnaga; Gajendra Moksha panel); Panchayatana = five shrines.
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This question tests your understanding of Post-Mauryan & Gupta Age, 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 the period after the Mauryas: the Shungas, Satavahanas, Indo-Greeks, Shakas and Kushanas, followed by the Gupta Empire, often called the classical age of India, and the reign of Harshavardhana. It includes art, literature, science and administration in these periods. Exams test the rulers and their achievements (Kanishka and the fourth Buddhist council, Samudragupta's Allahabad Pillar inscription, Chandragupta II and Fa-Hien), the Gandhara and Mathura schools of art, and Gupta scholars such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata and Varahamihira. Harsha's reign is usually tested with Hiuen Tsang and Nalanda University. Practise the post-Mauryan and Gupta age 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.