Martand Sun Temple

According to Kalhana, the Martand Sun Temple was commissioned by Lalitaditya Muktapida in the eighth century CE.

According to Jonaraja (fl. 1430) as well as Hasan Ali, the temple was destroyed by Sikandar Shah Miri (1389-1413) in a zeal to Islamise society under the advice of Sufi preacher Mir Muhammad Hamadani;{{efn|Son of Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (1314-1384), a Sufi preacher of the Kubrawiya order who had migrated from Huttalàn (present-day Tajikistan) in the wake of Timurid invasions to Shibu'd-Din's Kashmir.}} Jonaraja pinned the blame on his chief-counsel Suhabhatta, a Brahman neo-convert who was held to have manifested a reign of intense persecution for the local Hindus, whereas Ali particularly affirmed Sikandar's convictions in these aspects.{{Cite book |last=Slaje |first=Walter |url=https://www.academia.edu/42710523 |title=Kingship in Kaśmīr (AD 1148‒1459) From the Pen of Jonarāja, Court Paṇḍit to Sulṭān Zayn al-'Ābidīn |publisher= |year=2014 |isbn=978-3869770888 |series=Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis - 7 |location=Germany |pages=28–29, 36, 155–173, 185–189, 201–203, 213–215}}{{Cite book |last=Pandit |first=Kashinath |url=https://archive.org/details/AChronicleOfMedievalKashmirKashinathPandit |title=Baharistan-i-shahi: A chronicle of mediaeval Kashmir |publisher=Firma KLM Pvt. Ltd. |year=1991 |location=Kolkata}}{{Cite book |last=Slaje |first=Walter |url=https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/543660 |title=Encountering Buddhism and Islam in Premodern Central and South Asia |date=19 August 2019 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-063168-5 |location= |pages= 128–160|language=en |chapter=Buddhism and Islam in Kashmir as Represented by Rājataraṅgiṇī Authors |doi=10.1515/9783110631685-006 |s2cid=204477165 |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/view/book/9783110631685/10.1515/9783110631685-006.xml}}

Scholars caution against accepting these sources at face value — Jonaraja was appointed by Sikandar's son, who sought to bring back the Brahminical elite into the royal fold, while later Muslim chroniclers had their motives to fit the past into an idealist tale of orthodox Islamic morality. According to Chitralekha Zutshi and Richard G. Salomon, Sikandar's policies were guided by realpolitik{{Cite journal |last1=Salomon |first1=Richard |last2=Slaje |first2=Walter |date=2016 |title=Review of Kingship in Kaśmīr (AD1148–1459). From the Pen of Jonarāja, Court Paṇḍit to Sulṭān Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn. Critically Edited by Walter Slaje with an Annotated Translation, Indexes and Maps. [Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis 7], SlajeWalter |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26546259 |journal=Indo-Iranian Journal |volume=59 |issue=4 |pages=393–401 |doi=10.1163/15728536-05903009 |jstor=26546259 |issn=0019-7246|url-access=subscription }} and, like with the previous Hindu rulers, an attempt to secure political legitimacy by asserting state power over Brahmans and gaining access to wealth controlled by Brahminical institutions.{{Cite web |last=Zutshi |first=Chitralekha |title=This book claims to expose the myths behind Kashmir's history. It exposes its own biases instead |url=https://scroll.in/article/855050/this-book-claims-to-expose-the-myths-behind-kashmirs-history-it-exposes-its-own-biases-instead |access-date=1 February 2021 |website=Scroll.in |date=24 October 2017 |language=en-US}} J. L. Bhan notes a stone sculpture—a four-armed Brahma, sculpted by the son of a Buddhist Sanghapati and dedicated to Sikandar—to challenge simplistic notions of religious persecution.{{Cite book |last=Bhan |first=Jawahar Lal |title=Kashmir Sculptures: An Iconographical Study of Brāhmanical Sculptures |publisher=Readworthy Publications |year=2010 |volume=1 |location=Delhi, India |pages=68–69}} Slaje disagrees about the absence of religious motivations but notes the aversion of Brahmin chroniclers to be, largely, the result of resistance to the gradual disintegration of caste-hierarchy under Muslim influence.{{Cite book |last=Slaje |first=Walter |url=https://www.academia.edu/42709412 |title=Brahma's Curse : Facets of Political and Social Violence in Premodern Kashmir |publisher= |year=2019 |isbn=978-3-86977-199-1 |series=Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis - 13 |location= |pages=30–40 |chapter=What Does it Mean to Smash an Idol? Iconoclasm in Medieval Kashmir as Reflected by Contemporaneous Sanskrit Sources }}

The ruins and the remnants of the structure suffered further damage from several earthquakes.{{Cite book |last1=Bilham |first1=Roger |last2=Bali |first2=Bikram Singh |last3=Bhat |first3=M. Ismail |last4=Hough |first4=Susan |title=Ancient Earthquakes |date=1 October 2010 |chapter=Historical earthquakes in Srinagar, Kashmir: Clues from the Shiva Temple at Pandrethan |chapter-url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.orghttps//pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/626/chapter/3805836/Historical-earthquakes-in-Srinagar-Kashmir-Clues |language=en |doi=10.1130/2010.2471(10) |isbn=9780813724713 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

The Martand temple was built on top of a plateau from where one can view the whole of the Kashmir Valley. From the ruins and related archaeological findings, it can be said that it was an excellent specimen of Kashmiri architecture, which had blended the Gandharan, Gupta, and Chinese forms of architecture.{{cite book|title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1 By André Wink|year=1991|pages=250–51|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC&q=martand+sun+temple&pg=PA250|isbn=9004095098|last1=Wink|first1=André|publisher=BRILL }}{{cite book|title=Arts Of India By Krishna Chaitanya|pages=7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8EGUpX1O0hoC&q=martand+sun+temple&pg=PA7|isbn=9788170172093|last1=Chaitanya|first1=Krishna|year=1987|publisher=Abhinav Publications}}

The temple has a colonnaded courtyard, with its primary shrine in its center and surrounded by 84 smaller shrines, stretching 220 feet long and 142 feet broad in total and incorporating a smaller temple that was previously built.Encyclopædia Britannica: a new survey of universal knowledge: Volume 12, pp:965 The temple turns out to be the largest example of a peristyle in Kashmir and is complex due to its various chambers that are proportional in size and aligned with the overall perimeter of the temple. In Hindu temple architecture, the primary entrance to the temple is situated on the western side of the quadrangle and is the same width as the temple itself, creating grandeur. The entrance is highly reflective of the temple as a whole due to its elaborate decoration and allusion to the deities worshiped inside. The primary shrine is located in a centralised structure (the temple proper) that is thought to have had a pyramidal top - a common feature of the temples in Kashmir. Various wall carvings in the antechamber of the temple proper depict other gods, such as Vishnu, and river goddesses, such as Ganga and Yamuna, in addition to the sun-god Surya.{{cite web | url=http://www.koausa.org/Monuments/Chapter5.html | title=Ancient Monuments of Kashmir | access-date=8 November 2014 | author=Kak, Ram Chandra | website=koausa.org | author-link=Ram Chandra Kak}}

File:KITLV 100455 - Unknown - Martand Temple on the plateau above the Kashmir Valley in British India - Around 1870.tif|Ruins in c. 1870

File:Restored Martand Sun temple India 1870.jpg|Restored impression by J. Duguid (1870–73)

Martand Sun Temple enclosure (6134371538).jpg|Panorama of the ruins in the summer of 2011

File:Martand Sun Temple in the Winter (6741284235).jpg|Ruins in winter of 2012

File:Martand Ruins.JPG]]{{wide image|Martand - Sun Temple Panorama.jpg|1000px|alt=Temple ruins as seen from the entrance to the main temple structure|Temple ruins as seen from the entrance to the main temple structure}}

The Archaeological Survey of India has declared the Martand Sun Temple as a site of national importance in Jammu and Kashmir.{{cite web |title=Archaeological survey of India protected monuments |url=http://www.heritageofkashmir.org/heritage-tourism/asi-protected-monuments.html |publisher=heritageofkashmir.org |access-date=11 August 2012}} The temple appears in the list of centrally protected monuments as Kartanda (Sun Temple).{{cite web |title=Protected monuments in Jammu & Kashmir |url=http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_alphalist_jk.asp |publisher=asi.nic.in, Archaeological Survey of India |access-date=29 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507130954/http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_alphalist_jk.asp |archive-date=7 May 2012 |url-status=dead }}

File:Details - Martand Temple.JPG

In March 2024, the Jammu and Kashmir government initiated efforts to restore the temple.{{cite news |title=J&K govt initiates efforts to restore 8th century Martand Sun temple |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/jk-govt-initiates-efforts-to-restore-8th-century-martand-sun-temple-101711783006368.html |work=Hindustan Times |date=30 March 2024 |access-date=1 April 2024}}

• 1970: The Hindi film Man Ki Aankhen starring Dharmendra and Waheeda Rahman has Martand Temple as background for the Rafi-Lata song Chala Bhi Aa Aaja Rasiya.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul3wufPJ4UE|title=Chala Bhi Aa Aaja Rasiya | Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi | Man Ki Aankhen 1970 Songs | Dharmendra|access-date=4 February 2020|via=www.youtube.com}}
• 1975: The Hindi film Aandhi starring Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen has Martand Temple as background for the Kishore-Lata song "Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi Shikwa Nahiin".{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-HnmVg0-O8|title=Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi Shikwa To Nahin | Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar | Aandhi 1975 Songs|access-date=4 February 2020|via=www.youtube.com}}
• 2014: The temple was selected as the background for the song "Bismil", in the Hindi film Haider, modelled on Hamlet in the backdrop of the Kashmir conflict. Certain Kashmiri Pandits claimed that the site was depicted as a "den of evil"—hurting their sentiments in the process—and sought a ban.{{Cite web |date=7 October 2014 |title=Kashmiri Pandits seek ban on film Haider for misrepresenting ancient temple |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/kashmiri-pandits-seek-ban-on-film-haider-for-misrepresenting-ancient-temple/ |access-date=4 April 2022 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}

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{{commons category|Sun Temple, Martand}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20161030091809/http://ignca.nic.in/asp/showbig.asp?projid=mst0005 Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts] - Martand Sun Temple Site Photos
• [http://sarsonkekhet.in/2012/01/23/martand-sun-temple-in-the-winter/ Martand Sun Temple in winter] - Pics of Surya Sun Temple under snow
• [http://www.trodly.com/destination/4892/martand-sun-temple Martand Sun Temple and around]

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a)A History of Kashmir by Pandit Prithvi Nath Kaul Bamzai, pp. 140

Category:8th-century Hindu temples

Category:Hindu temples in Jammu and Kashmir

Category:Archaeological sites in Jammu and Kashmir

Category:Surya temples

Category:Anantnag district

Category:756 establishments

Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in the 750s

Category:Hindu temples sacked in the Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent

Category:Karkota dynasty