Thread by @IndicaOrg

#BookOverview 'Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples: Episodes from Indian History'
by Meenakshi Jain

This work examines the medieval response to temple destruction and image desecration

#Thread @IndicaBooks #History

While temples were destroyed on a considerable scale, also noteworthy were the repeated endeavours to reconstruct them

In each instance of rebirth, the temple retained its original name, even though there was a visible downsizing in its scale and grandeur

The Keshava temple at Mathura, the Vishwanath temple at Kashi, the Somnath temple in Saurashtra, the Rama mandir at Ayodhya were among the shrines continually restored, well after Hindus had lost all semblance of political power

The Bindu Madhava, the most important Vishnu temple in Varanasi, was demolished in 1669 and a mosque constructed in its place

The temple now bearing the name Bindu Madhava is a modest structure in the shadow of the mosque, but continues the traditions associated with the site.

Intriguingly, mosques built on temple sites often retained the sacred names —Bijamandal mosque, Lat masjid, Atala masjid, Gyanvapi mosque, and not to forget, masjid-i- janamsthan

Temple histories played a great part in deciphering the large scale of iconoclasm all over India at the time

'Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples' by Meenakshi Jain is a phenomenal work - a must read for all patrons of Indic Renaissance

Click here for the purchase links: indicbookclub.com/book/5c7506b79…