Martand Sun Temple

According to the 12th-century Kashmiri chronicle of Kalhana, as summarised by Wikipedia, the temple was commissioned by King Lalitaditya Muktapida of the Karkota dynasty in the 8th century CE. Wikipedia also notes that the complex incorporates an earlier and smaller temple, a point repeated by The Tribune.

The temple was destroyed in the late 14th or early 15th century. The chronicler Jonaraja and later writers attribute the demolition to Sultan Sikandar Shah Miri, who ruled Kashmir from 1389 to 1413. Wikipedia records that some modern historians question how far these accounts reflect political motives, so the details of the destruction remain debated. Earthquakes are said to have caused further damage to the ruins.

In the modern period the ASI declared the site a monument of national importance; it appears in the national list as 'Martanda (Sun Temple)'. In March 2024 The Tribune reported that the Jammu and Kashmir Department of Culture had called a meeting, attended by the ASI's Srinagar circle, to discuss the protection, conservation and restoration of ancient shrines in Kashmir, including Martand.

Architecture and sacred features

The complex is a colonnaded courtyard with the main shrine at its centre, surrounded by 84 smaller shrines (cells) set into the enclosure. The Tribune and Wikipedia give the courtyard's size as roughly 220 feet long and 142 feet wide. The central shrine is thought to have had a pyramidal roof, typical of Kashmiri temples, but this has not survived.

Writers on the site describe the architecture as a blend of influences, with Gandharan, Gupta and Chinese forms mentioned by The Tribune and Wikipedia. Carvings that can still be made out in the antechamber of the main shrine include images of Vishnu, of the river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna, and of Surya himself.