page_title: Teli ka Mandir
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Teli ka Mandir / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: The plan of Teli Ka Mandir, also referred Telika Temple or Telika Mandir. It features a rectangular sanctum which is unusual in a Hindu temple where square sanctums predominate. According to Michael Meister, the sanctum of this temple is actually a stack of 2 squares, or more precisely the temple has a 4x6 square plan. Its outer dimensions were enlarged to a 8x10 square structure. This temple was an innovative experimentation, not only in its base plan, but its extensive use of 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 2:3, 3:5, 2:5 and 4:5 harmonic ratios in its architecture. See: Geometry and Measure in Indian Temple Plans: Rectangular Temples, Michael Meister (1983)
context_page_description: Teli ka Mandir, also known as Telika Temple, is a Hindu temple located within the Gwalior Fort in Madhya Pradesh, India. Dedicated to Vishnu, Shiva and Matrikas, it has been variously dated between the early 8th and early 9th century CE.
  It is an unusual Hindu temple, as it has a rectangular sanctum instead of the typical square. It integrates the architectural elements of the Nagara style and the Valabhi prasada that looks like the Dravidian wagon-vault topped gopuram superstructure. The temple is based on a Pratihara-Gopagiri style North Indian architecture.
  The temple is a classic example of a design based on "musical harmonics" in architecture, one that Hermann Goetz called as a masterpiece of late Gupta era Indian art.
context_section_description: The temple has a rectangular triratha sanctum plan that sits on a jagati platform that is a square of 60 feet (18 m). It has a large kapili projecting portico of about 11 feet (3.4 m) towards the east. The tower rises about the rectangular sanctum to a height of 80 feet (24 m). Above it is a barrel vault shaped cap of 30 feet (9.1 m), its length perpendicular to that of the sanctum, that reminds one of South Indian gopuram. It likely had amalaka, kalasha and other ornaments on top, but these are all lost to history. The walls of temple has numerous niches for statues, but it is all empty now and show signs of damage. The niches are topped by tall pediments. The outer dimensions of the sanctum are 60x40 feet with an 80 feet tower above.
  The doorway into the temple is 35 feet (11 m) high, and it is ornate. Above the doorway is a relief of Garuda, the vahana of Vishnu. Inside, there is another doorway above which is a Ganesha relief. There is a Nandi and lingam inside in the sanctum. The temple entrance and panels have several inscriptions, three of which are short likely from pre-10th century and others are longer from 15th-century. The latter inscriptions suggest that the temple was a Shaiva shrine by the 15th century. One of the inscriptions discovered is a metrical hymn about Durga, which suggests a Shakta tradition influence. The temple lacks a covered mandapa, but includes a circumambulatory path. This path has four entrances, one from each cardinal direction which a devotee can use to enter the temple for a darshana.
  The temple is approached through a flight of stairs leading to a banded doorway containing sculptures of river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna with their waists leaning towards the center, each with a boy and a girl on the lower part. Above them are amorous couples in various stages of courtship and intimacy (mithuna). There are male and female dvarapalas along the outer and inner doorways, both genders carrying weapons and a kind expression of welcome, and possibly symbolizing the theology in Shaiva and Shakta traditions. Above the river goddess flanked eastern doorway are piled up chaitya-hall style gavaksha ornamentation, which reminds one of the Buddhist designs. The doorway leads to the sanctum sanctorum or garbha griha. There is a decorative sculpture of Garuda at the entrance to the temple.
  The temple's Valabhi shikhara mirrors the gopuram of Dravidian temples and it stands on a Nagara base. The temple's outer walls have been extensively carved.
caption: Teli ka mandir ground plan (incomplete).[21]
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