Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Survaya Garhi - Shivpuri - Old Heritage

I had not traveled for long this year and this gap was killing me. Nature keeps on inviting and we keep on dreaming in office or home. I was satisfying myself by reading travel stories of other people. And then suddenly planned an outing. Family was ready and on 30th September 2011, we drove to Shivpuri. I have already written about Shivpuri in my earlier post (Shivpuri - Madhya Pradesh). Our objective this time was to visit places which we missed last time. The place is beautiful, Nature at its best and wild life started to flourish now.

In this beautiful place, in between the lap of nature lies a Historical Monument - Survaya Garhi. This  was one place which we missed last time. Garhi in English means Fort. But the place is a 10th Century Hindu Monastery. A fort like structure was created around it for protection. It is maintained by Archaeological Survey of India and whole place was dug out in an excavation.

Survaya Fort
Survaya Garhi is about 20 kms from main Shivpuri Town on Jhansi Road and lies in between Survaya Village. From outside the place looks like a fortress. The place has 3 temples and a huge Auditorium. It is said that this place was a boarding school and was also used by saints for meditation. The Hostel (few call it Auditorium) is a double story complex with a underground water source. Two temples now do not have and deity or idol in it, but one temple still has Shivling in it. The architecture in the temples is very beautiful as can be seen in the photos below.

Main Gate (Entrance) 
                                             
Old Well
                                                         

Internal Wall

 An View of the Main Compound. Two Temples are visible here.
                               
  Auditorium or Hostel
                                                               


Temple Number two
                                                                   
An view of the Entrance from inside the compound

     Temple Number 3
                                                       
  Inside the Auditorium
                                                               
  Inside the Auditorium
                                                                 
 Inside the Auditorium

The archaeological survey have done a splendid job to restore and maintain the place. It is clean and restoration work has been very minutely. The architecture on the temple walls can be seen in pictures below:

A Big Grinding Stone
      
Remains of Pillar
                                                               
Close up of Pillars
                                                     
Another View
                                                       
                                                     

Though these temples are small, but the grandeur of Ancient Indian Architecture can be easily seen below:
An Image on the Pillar 


Design on Roof










    Temple with Shivlingam in it
                                             

   Ancient Engineering Marvel
                                           


Pillar with Beautiful Architecture





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