Bijbihara Pit Shiva Temple- Jammu and Kashmir

Address

Bijbihara Pit Shiva Temple- Bijbehara, Anantnag district Jammu and Kashmir -192124

Diety

Shiva

Introduction

The sculptures found at Bijbehara, a town in Anantnag district of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are considered the earliest ones in distinct Kashmir style of sculptures. The pit temple next to the river is said to be ancient Shiv temple of Bijbihara mentioned by Kalhana as Vijeshvara. A lot of material from Bijbehara was moved to SPS museum in around 1898 by Captain Godfrey. Although lot of old fragments can be found in the pit, Siudmak mentions that this standing Ganesha is the oldest and around early 7th century AD.

Puranic Significance

The word Bijbehara or Vijbor has been derived from Sanskrit word Vijayeshwar. It was an ancient site of Shiva Vijayeshwar. Rajdan wrote this piece when terrorists were launching attacks in close vicinity of this pit temple. Whatever remains of the Bijbihara pit temple in Kashmir is a sad reminder of the ancient Burzahom. This site was nominated on 15 April 2014 for declaring it as a UNESCO World Heritage Site by the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO.