Chausath Yogini Temple, Mitaoli
The Chausath Yogini Temple, Mitaoli, also known as Ekattarso Mahadeva Temple, is an 11th-century temple in Morena district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the few well-preserved Yogini temples in India. The temple is formed by a circular wall with 65 chambers, apparently for 64 yoginis and the goddess Devi, and an open mandapa in the centre of a circular courtyard, sacred to Shiva. History. The Chausath Yogini temple is in Mitaoli village (also spelled Mitauli, Mitawali or Mitavali), near Padaoli in Morena district from Gwalior. According to an  inscription dated to 1323 CE (Vikram Samvat 1383), the temple was built by the Kachchhapaghata king Devapala (). It is said that the temple was the venue of providing education in astrology and mathematics based on the transit of the Sun. The Archaeological Survey of India has declared the temple an ancient and historical monument under Act No. LXXI of 1951, dt.28/11/1951. Features. The temple is on a hill about in height; there are 100 steps to climb up to the entrance. It is circular with a radius of , while inside it has 65 small chambers, each with a mandapa which  is open and a facia of pilasters and pillars. The roof of the ring of shrines is flat, as is that of the central shrine to Shiva; the circular courtyard is hypaethral, open to the sky, with an open porch as its entrance. The parliament building of India is said to have been based on this temple. The exterior surface of the outer wall, unlike other Yogini temples which are quite plain outside, was decorated with statues of couples flanked by maidens, mostly now lost or badly damaged. Each of the chambers around the inside of the perimeter wall now  contains an image of Shiva. However, originally these contained 64 Yogini images and probably one image of the great goddess Devi. The temple is therefore known as Chausath Yogini Temple ("Chausath" being the Hindi for "Sixty four"). It is said that the roofs over the 64 chambers and the central shrine had towers or shikharas, as those at the Chausath Yogini Temple, Khajuraho still do, but that these were removed during later modifications. The central shrine's roofing slabs are perforated to allow rainwater to drain through pipes to a large underground tank. The temple is in the Seismic Zone  III region and has survived several earthquakes, seemingly without any serious damage. This fact was cited when the issue of safety from earthquake effect of the circular Parliament House, its design supposedly based on the Mitaoli temple, was debated in the Indian Parliament.