Payar, a small village, is situated on the banks of a stream towards the southern extremity of the tableland called Nonagar, 18 km south of Pampore. On the south side of the village, near the bank of the stream and surrounded by walnut and willow trees is an ancient temple which for its elegance has been considered superior to all the temples in Kashmir.
The temple is built on a raised plinth and it is 2.40 m square, internally, and has doorways on each side. The temple from the top to bottom is 6.30 m high including the plinth. The chief mouldings are plain toranas in the middle and filleted toranas on the top. The sanctum is reached by a flight of steps on the east side. The doorways are rectangular and surmounted by trefoil arches having pediments. The pilasters on which the pediments rest are surmounted by capitals depicting geese with long foliate tails. The pilasters from which the trefoiled arches spring are crowned by bull capitals. The eastern trefoil depicts a figure of Shiva seated cross-legged on a throne under a canopy with votaries, two of them seated in lalitasana pose. The north side trefoil shows Bhairava pursuing a human being shown in supplication. Behind the Bhairava is an elephant’s upraised trunk. The western side of the shrine shows six-armed dancing figures. The upper two arms are raised aloft, holding the two ends of a scarf; the middle two hands – the left hand holds a flower, the right a trident. In the lower corner of the group on the left side is shown a musician playing on a vina whereas on the right one is shown beating a drum. The southern side is decorated with a figure of three-headed Shiva seated cross-legged on a pedestal. Shiva has two arms and wears a sacred thread. In the left lower corner is seated a female, probably, Parvati. The remaining three figures appear to be ascetics. Over the god’s head are seen flying figures of Gandharvas/Kinnaras. The corner pilasters have beautiful floral capitals.
The articulated shikhara is of pyramidal type and divided into two sections by an ornamental band consisting of square spaces alternately projecting and receding. The dome of the temple rests upon the cornice. The ceiling of the Pandrethan temple is a copy of Payar on a bigger scale. The enshrining image of the temple is a linga having an octagonal base1.
1 R.C Agrawal, Kashmir and its Monumental Glory (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 1998), 160-161.