Gopadri Hill, popularly known as Shankaracharya Hill, is just opposite the Hari Parbat1. It is also commonly known as the Takht-i-Sulaiman. The Shankaryachraya Temple is located on the top of the hills at a height of 1100 feet above Srinagar city. The temple is devoted to the worship of lord Shiva2. Kalhanas’s Rajatarangini refers to this hill frequently and assigns that the song of Ashoka constructed a temple of Jyeshtharudra. In another tradition, it is also associated with Gopaditya who also built a temple which was named Jyeshtheshwar3. In ancient times this temple was known as the Gopadri4. During the time of emperor Akbar, the Gopadri was a centre of attraction for Muslims and Abul Fazal in his account called this hill Koh-e-Suleman, which, with the passage of time, became Takht-e-Suleman. Subsequent to the visit of Shankaryacharya to the valley and the temple, it was given the name Shankaryacharya Temple5. It is believed that the saint Shankaracharya stayed here when he visited Kashmir ten centuries ago to preach the Sanatan Dharma. An inscription in Persian inside the shrine indicates that the origin of this sacred place dates back to the reign of emperor Shah Jahan6. During the time of Shah Jehan, in front of the temple a pavilion was built, the remains of which can still be seen at the site7.
The temple proper is built on a hill and in appearance looks simple. The simplicity of the structure and the semi-circular arch built on the flights of steps as a doorway leading to the temple complex indicate the first stage of the evolution of temple architecture in the Kashmir valley. The temple proper is built on a raised platform surrounded by an octagonal parapet wall. The temple faces east. The octagonal parapet wall from the ground level is 7.10 high. On three sides it is natural rock and on the fourth, i.e., the northeastern side is built with dressed and polished stones. The built-up portion has taper too. To reach this high octagonal wall, on the eastern side, a long staircase with a semi-circular gateway has been provided. The staircase is divided into two parts. In the lower level, it is 1.85 m high and simple in treatment whereas the upper one has flat mouldings. The gateway, provided in the steps, is 2.40 m high and 0.58 m wide. This doorway has two sections. The parapet wall is 1.17 m high of which original remains are extant only on the northeastern side and in the rest of the area it has disappeared.
The temple proper is built on an octagonal floor on a raised plinth and is square, with projections on each face - on plan - whereas the interior is circular. The plinth is 1.40 m high and has five mouldings. The interior of the sanctum measures 4.15 m in diameter. Since the original ceiling has disappeared, the sanctum is covered by modern flat stones.
The earliest photograph published by H.C.Cole in his notes on Ancient Buildings in Kashmir in 1870 fairly gives the idea that the trefoil arch was just introduced and had a primitive character. It is definite that the concept of the trefoil arch which was developed along with the circular arch is a prototype of the evolved one and thus, the temple can be dated approximately to the middle of the seventh century AD. The two flights of steps on the main entrance to the temple appear to be a later innovation8.
1 R.C Agrawal, Kashmir and its Monumental Glory (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 1998), 109-112.
2 S.Luckvinder Singh Sodhi, Monuments and Temples of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh (Kashmir, 2011), 97.
3 R.C Agrawal, Kashmir and its Monumental Glory (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 1998), 109-112.
4 S.Luckvinder Singh Sodhi, Monuments and Temples of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh (Kashmir, 2011), 97.
5 R.C Agrawal, Kashmir and its Monumental Glory (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 1998), 109-112.
6 S.Luckvinder Singh Sodhi, Monuments and Temples of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh (Kashmir, 2011), 97.
7 R.C Agrawal, Kashmir and its Monumental Glory (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 1998), 109-112.
8 R.C Agrawal, Kashmir and its Monumental Glory (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 1998), 109-112.