Vishnupada Temple, Gaya

Vishnupada Temple, Gaya

The Vishnupada Temple is considered to be one of the most sacred of all the Vaishnava temples in India. The spot on which it stands is associated with the famous mythological event of God Vishnu killing the demon Gayasura and leaving marks of his footprint on the rock which is the main object of worship in the temple. Little is, however, known of the ancient or original temple over the sacred spot. The present Vishnupada Temple on the bank of the river Phalgu was built at the end of the eighteenth century by the Maharani of Indore Ahilya Bai Holkar who brought about 1,200 sculptors from Jaipur (Rajasthan) who quarried the grey granite stone from Patherkatti (a hill in Gaya district) and took about twelve years to complete the construction of the temple. The temple consists in plan of a sanctum, having an octagonal tower, about hundred feet high, with a lofty pyramidal roof besides an open pillared hall or mandapa in front, surrounded by an open courtyard all around. Annexed to the temple within the courtyard is a large baradari or pillared pavilion of sixteen granite pillars called as Solah Vedi where 'Pindas' are also offered by the pilgrims coming from all over India. In front of the baradari is a huge bell, which was presented by Ranjit Pande, a minister of Nepal.

In the courtyard of the Vishnupada Temple there are numerous small shrines and images. The Nrisimha Temple, a small temple dedicated to Nrisimha, the man-lion incarnation of Lord Vishnu has a beautifully carved doorframe. An another temple of Vishnu adjoining the Nrisimha Temple on the north side has stone pillars and brick built walls. On the eastern side of the courtyard also there is a small temple dedicated to Siva or Mahadeva in the form of Phalgwisvara or Lord of the Phalgu (river). A number of inscriptions have had been earlier found in and around the premises of the Vishnupada Temple which are of great epigraphical significance.