Loduv Ancient Temple, Jammu and Kashmir

Address

Loduv Ancient Temple, Ladhu, Pulwama district Jammu and Kashmir 192122

Diety

Shiva

Introduction

A hillock in Loduv village, the Loduv Temple is an ancient architecture dating back to the 8th century. The temple is located in the Loduv village, Pulwama District, Jammu and Kashmir. It is about 4 miles away from Barus in Srinagar district. Built in a distinguishable manner from the other Kashmiri temples, this piece is quite uncomplicated in its structure. The interior of the temple is circular in arrangement whereas the external portion is square in shape. The temple is also called as Ladhoo, Loduv or Ladhu Shiva temple. The entrance is on the southwestern corner and there is a hemispherical arch on the top. Constructed using relatively small sized stones, the temple roof are sharp and straight. It consists of three rows of stone ornamented with projecting fillets. The corner pillars are rather bare and protrude only very faintly from the walls. The dome resembles the ceiling of the larger temples at Wangat and was built of protruding courses of Kanjur in lime. The Loduv Temple bears similarity with the Shankaracharya Temple on the Takht-e-Sulaiman Hill (Shankaracharya Hill).

Puranic Significance

The temple roof is sharp and straight. This style was vogue in 8th century AD. The comparative study of ancient temples of Kashmir reveals that Loduv is the earliest extant stone temple of Kashmir, erected on a hillock in Loduv village. Surprisingly the temple has neither been mentioned by Kalhana, nor finds any mention in early Chinese accounts of Kashmir. The first description of the temple has been given by Vinge and Courie in 1866. The temple has a unique circular plan (exceptional in contemporary Kashmiri temples) and bears striking similarities with the Guniyar temple in Swat. This style of architecture came to an end around 6th century AD, therefore the temple cannot be dated later than the early years of the Karkota dynasty, perhaps even to the late 6th or early 7th century. The smaller size of individual stones and a simpler type of trefoil niche also supports an earlier date. Loduv temple represents some of the typical Kashmiri features like trefoil niche, rounded projecting stone courses along the base and the elevated platform. The corbelled corners of the temple that imply a lantern ceiling, suggests that the temple once included a pyramidal roof also. It appears that some additions to the temple were made later, like doorways. These doorways include an inner door with another trefoil niche above the lintel.