Place · Gupta brick temple · India
Bhītargaon temple
Also known as Bhitargaon, Bhitargaon Temple
The 5-6 century Bhitargaon temple at Bhitargaon in Kanpur Dehat district, Uttar Pradesh — the oldest surviving brick temple in North India still standing to its full original height, and the earliest Indian temple with a surviving true shikhara (curvilinear tower). The temple was built around 500 CE under the late Gupta dynasty (Chandragupta II or Kumaragupta I). The 20-metre-tall brick temple sits on a square plinth with elaborate terracotta reliefs on all four sides depicting Vaishnava, Shaiva and Shakta iconography. The temple's distinctive feature is its true shikhara — the curvilinear Nagara-style spire that is the oldest surviving example in Indian architecture and the model for subsequent Nagara temple-building across North India. The temple suffered partial collapse of its sanctum in a 1894 lightning strike; ASI restoration preserved the surviving three-quarters of the structure. ASI protection since 1904. UNESCO tentative list since 2014.
- Date
- c. 5th century CE
- Function
- Sacred site & pilgrimage
- Condition
- Standing / restored
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 26.240, 80.240
Worth knowing
Its terracotta panels are the largest surviving set of Gupta figural brickwork. The original roof was struck by lightning in the nineteenth century and the ASI rebuilt the upper courses, so what stands is a fifth-century core under a repaired crown.
Connections (1)
- Architectural modelSatmahal, Kalcha
Bhitargaon is the earliest surviving brick temple of the north; the Kalcha group is a later provincial instance of the same technique. Both argue that fired brick, not stone, was the medium of the eastern plains.
Sources
Bhitargaon temple — ASI; carried over from the retired heritage-sites overlay
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