In Bhojpur

A part of the Bhojeshwar temple complex

Just outside of Bhopal, there is a little known town called Bhojpur on the banks of river Betwa. My friend and I went on a visit on the way to Bhopal from Hoshangabad. We got down from the bus and took a shared auto to go to the Bhojeshwar temple, and a shared ride it was indeed! The driver was more than happy to accommodate more passengers so that  there were 10 of us, not to mention our suitcase and handbags, all in 1 auto! We were crammed together like sardines, in uncomfortable positions.

When I first  caught sight of the Bhojeshwar temple, I was blown away! It is a sparse landscape that surrounds the temple, and the huge structure in contrast, really catches the eye.  It is an incomplete temple, with one of the largest Shiva lingas in the world. You could see it from a distance but if you were to go inside the structure, even if you were to crane your neck you would be able to see only the bottom of the large pedestal and not the Shivalinga. Apparently, construction was abandoned midway. It is a curious temple. I felt it was unlike any other I had ever visited. There is something alien and unfamiliar about it. For instance, the lack of ornate walls on the outside, or the rectangular shape of the structure and the different style of the carvings around it. I was boggled by the kind of Math they would have had to make to calculate how high and how strong the structure would have to be to build something so mammoth.

What's exciting and what I learned later, after my visit, was that the quarry sites from where the stones were sourced still exist around the temple. Some of them seem to have ' the blueprint' of the temple, architectural drawings that were used to determine how it was to be built. It must have been an ambitious project. I wonder why it was abandoned. The temple is attributed to Raja Bhoja of the Paramaras. From what I've read, if the temple would have been completed, it would have been one of the largest in the world.