Sonepur: Koshaleswara Shiva temple that has marvellous medieval architecture is in ruins due to lack of proper maintenance.
Situated on the banks of river Tel at Baidyanath, 15 km from Sonepur town, the temple’s architecture is comparable to Puri Jagannath temple, Konark Sun temple and Lingaraj temple at Bhubaneswar.
Images like ‘darpani stree’ (woman in a posture of looking at a mirror), erotic couples, and ‘naga kanya’ are living testimonies to the marvellous sculpting of that time.
The inner roof of the main gate (mukhasala) which has images of incarnations of Lord Vishnu, Ardhanariswara, Ganesha, Kartikeya and Parvati, all made of burnt red soil, draw the attention of visitors.
As the original ‘Vimana’ had been destroyed, the present one was got reconstructed by erstwhile king of Sonepur Biramitrodaya Singhdeo.
With the passage of time, there was no royal patronage for the temple. However, in 1974, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) took up the maintenance and renovation work of this temple. For one reason or the other, ASI too left its work mid way, leaving the art works and stone-carved idols of 19th century rolling on the ground.
The government is also showing little interest for its renovation. Because of such negligence, another temple named Mahakaleswar allegedly went into submergence August 17, 1967.
Historian Sudam Naik held the culture department responsible for the temple’s present deplorable condition.
Locals demanded the government should take steps for the development of the temple, along with facilities for visitors and construction of an embankment for the safety of riverbank. PNN
