Beyond the Shiva Temples: Matha in the Menal temple complexes

By Swapna Joshi

The Menal temple complex is located off the Bundi-Chittorgarh highway in Rajasthan, amidst the Aravalli Range. The complex boasts eclectic religious buildings, including temples constructed between the eighth and twelfth centuries CE. Mahanaleshwar and Suhaveshwar are two important Shiva temples in this complex, along with smaller shrines dedicated to Vishnu and goddess worship. Alongside these, there are two lesser-known mathas, one located near the Mahanaleshwar Temple premises and another adjacent to the Suhaveshwar Temple. Both are two-story structures designed for residence, likely for the religious pontiff and his pupils. Scholars have discussed the temples in Menal, but they have not discussed the mathas. These two buildings add a distinct flavor to the architectural setup at Menal. The deep gorges, lush greenery, and cascading waterfalls create a conducive environment for ascetic practices and religious activities.

Concept of a Matha

The term matha refers to a monastic establishment. It is a place that caters to the proliferation of religious practices, functions as an educational institution, and may also serve as a religious figure's residence. [1] The meaning of the term matha may not directly translate to a monastery; however, for want of a better word, it is the most appropriate one available. A matha can perform all these roles at the same time or cater to only one of these objectives. Buddhists and Jains built monastic establishments in the form of rock-cut caves before Shaiva or Vaishnava religious traditions built mathas. These religious traditions' philosophies created the need for monastic spaces in the early centuries of the common era. Consider the Barabar caves in Bihar, the Ajanta and Ellora caves in Maharashtra, and the Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves in Orissa. Rock-cut caves functioned as monasteries, educational institutes, and temples housing the gods. As temples proliferated in later centuries, so did the number of mathas constructed. Both the royalty and the laity provided donations for the construction of mathas and to promote religious practices. An 11th-century inscription from Patne in Maharashtra provides an example of a donation to a matha for educational purposes. [2] Likewise, an inscription from the 10th century Bengal records the construction of nine mathas for teachers and students. Tamara Sears, in her work on the mathas of central India, opines that scholarly discussions on matha are essential because a significant portion of the architectural record is missing.

Concerning their architecture, mathas have various spatial divisions based on the requirement and function of the building. Within this setup, the most common layout is an open courtyard surrounded by small rooms and a shrine. They can be single or multi-story buildings, mostly simplistic in their architecture with minimal ornamentation. Sites such as Kadwaha, Surwaya, and Ranod in Madhya Pradesh and Mehkar, Charthana, Devthan, and Sinnar in Maharashtra are home to various types of mathas. The two mathas from Menal are essential additions.

Matha in the Mahanaleshwar temple complex

The square matha (Image 1) is situated adjacent to the Mahanaleshwar Temple, along the southern edge of the complex compound wall. Constructed in plain dressed stone masonry, the structure is simple with an austere appearance and minimal ornamentation in the form of pillars, doorframes, awnings, and protruding balconies on the exterior walls of the temple. The two-story structure stands on a low plinth. The ground floor is entirely closed, whereas the upper floor is a semi-open space. The entrance to the matha is via a small porch, which leads past a flight of steps. The ground floor, accessible through the doorway, features an open-air courtyard at its center, encircled by a colonnade on all sides, and cells or rooms beyond it. The same space of the colonnade turns into a gallery on the upper floor, which has a row of rooms on its southern side and a colonnade on the north side. There must have been enclosed spaces on the other two sides as well, but this floor has lost some of its original walls. There is only one entrance to these rooms on the ground and first floors, and it's possible that some of them have internal connections. Currently, all these rooms, especially the ones on the upper level, are filled with debris. Most of these spaces lack any flooring. The central courtyard pillars on the ground floor are noteworthy. These, in contrast to the other pillars in the entire matha, are ornate and made of polished stone. Michael W. Meister proposes that the Mahanaleshwar temple complex repurposed these pillars from an earlier structure. He suggests that the pillars were originally located on the porch of the 8th-century triple-shrine structure facing the Mahanaleshwar temple. [3] Other pillars in the matha are plain rectangular columns with a decorated pillar capital or pillars with eight-sided fluted columns. The southwestern corner of the ground floor houses a staircase that connects the two floors of the matha. Currently, the ground floor colonnades showcase a few sculptural and architectural fragments discovered within the temple complex's premises. On the upper storey, the balcony features a vedika (railing) adorned with plain kakshasanas (seat backs). Just above the entrance porch, along the northern wing, there is a semi-enclosed space that looks like a subsidiary shrine. The Mahanaleshwar Temple also features similar small shrines in its lateral wings.

The Pashupatas, a Shaiva Siddhanta tradition active in Central India during the same period, commissioned the construction of this matha. This community of ascetics being instrumental in building such structures with the support of the state is a noteworthy aspect of the mathas. A sage named Bhava Brahma constructed the matha in 1169 CE, during the reign of the Chahamana ruler Prithhviraja II. This is described in a twelve-line inscription on the side profile of a pillar along the outer edge of the matha. Today, it cannot be easily seen because of a grill affixed between the pillars of the north wing. The inscription also contains a eulogy for the Chahamana ruler. Sears suggests that these aspects of eulogising the patron ruler and the agency of the religious leader indicate that contemporary religious practices were an outcome of the dialogue between these two actors. Furthermore, she also argues that the matha was built a few centuries later than the Mahanaleshwar temple complex and strategically placed in the southwestern corner of the complex so that the matha would face north.[4] The facets of the mathas brought out through Sears’s study shed new light on the architectural record of the mathas and highlighted the need to view them as a significant part of temple complexes.

Matha in the Suhaveshwar temple complex

A stream separates the Suveshwar temple complex from the Menal temple. It consists of only two structures, the Suhaveshwar temple and a matha (Image 2) adjacent to it. It is also a two-story structure, like the Mahanaleshwar temple matha, but this one is rectangular. Nevertheless, the two mathas share many architectural features. The mathas, though different in plan, have a similar division and utilization of space. The entrance of this matha also has a small porch, followed by a colonnade that ends in two small rooms on either side, and behind the colonnade are three equal-sized rooms. No donatory inscription was found in the temple. However, the Suhaveshwar Temple has an inscription from 1168 CE that states that the Suhavadevi, the chief queen of Chahamana ruler Prithiviraja II, had generously donated towards the temple's construction. This is the same ruler who is mentioned in the Mahanaleshwar temple matha inscription. Notably, this inscription in the Suhaveshwar Temple is from a year before that of the Mahanaleshwar matha. Since the Suhaveshwar matha is proximal to the temple and bears a striking resemblance to the matha in the Mahanaleshwar complex, one could conjecture that the two matha structures are contemporary. [5] This one is also dedicated to the Pashupata tradition. According to local legends, the structure is called 'Ruthirani ka mahal' (Angry or Dissatisfied Queen's Palace) and was commissioned by the king for his sullen queen. This story seems to be a common trope in Rajasthan for palaces and havelis that are aloof or deserted. It is possible that it took root in Menal because of Suhavadevi's connection to the temple building.

Just two buildings manage to change the perspective and setting of all the temples at Menal. Owing to references to their religious affiliations, the contemporary socio-religious settings can also be hypothesized. The presence of such huge structures in association with temples and their functioning as places dedicated to the proliferation of religious and ascetic practices proves that temples functioned as larger institutions and not just as places of worship. It also highlights the donation patterns from the 11th and 12th centuries CE. An important point to note here is that Menal's environment has greatly contributed to the mathas' smooth functioning.

Footnotes:

[1] Malinar, ‘Monasteries (Maṭhas),’ http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2212-5019BEHCOM_9000000018

[2] Jamkhedkar, Purasanchay bhag 1 (Marathi), 59.

[3] Meister, Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture, 280-81.

[4] Sears. Śaiva Monastic Complexes in Twelfth-Century Rajasthan, 117.

[5] Sharma, Ram, 1986, ‘Menal Inscription of [Cāhamāna] Chief Queen Suhavadevī, Vikrama 1225,’ 189–192.

Bibliography

Malinar, Angelika. ‘Monasteries (Maṭhas).’ Edited by Knut A. Jacobsen, Helene Basu, and Vasudha Narayanan. Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online. 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2212-5019BEHCOM_9000000018

Jamkhedkar, Arvind. Purasanchay Bhag 1. Mumbai: Apranta Publishers, 2016.

Sears, Tamara. ‘Śaiva Monastic Complexes in Twelfth-Century Rajasthan: The Pāśupatas and Cāhamānas at Menāl.’ South Asian Studies 23 (1) (2007), 107–26.

Sharma, Ram. ‘Menal Inscription of [Cāhamāna] Chief Queen Suhavadevī, Vikrama 1225.’ Deyadharma: Studies in Memory of Dr DC Sircar, Gouriswar Bhattacharya. Delhi (1986): 189–92.

Meister, Michael. Encyclopaedia of Indian temple architecture North India Period of early maturity, part 2, edited by Michael W. Meister and M.A. Dhaky. American Institute of Indian Studies, 1991.