This temple was built under the patronage of Lalitaditya Muktapida. It is situated on the left bank of Jhelum river on the Baramulla-Uri highway. The temple proper is below the present road level and probably it was excavated sometime in the early 1920s. The temple stands in the middle of an oblong courtyard and is surrounded by fully developed peristyles having fifty-three cells, two of which have openings on the northern side, probably enshrining subsidiary Vaishnavite deities.
The access to the temple is through a double-chambered gateway, the ceiling of which must have been resting on fluted columns which are now missing. This double-chambered gateway is divided into two distinct parts by a cross-wall which measures one metre thick. The side walls of these chambers are also decorated with miniature temples having trefoil arches and surmounted by pyramidal pediments representing a double roof. The basement of the gateway is approached by a flight of six steps 2.30 m wide supported by balustrade walls.
The temple proper is situated, approximately, in the middle of an oblong quadrangle and enclosed by a pillared peristyle measuring internally 44.20 x 36.45 m and having 53 cells.
It is approached by a flight of twelve steps. In front of the temple on a rectangular platform, a pillar pedestal is placed, probably, meant for a ‘ Garuda stambha’.
The temple has a double basement. Both the basements have the same mouldings except that the upper platform or the basement has offsets at the corners whereas the lower platform is plain. The lower basement is 14.32 m square and 1.70 m high. The upper basement is 10.54 m square and 1.83 m high with a projection of 1.22 m each. Each portion of the basement has a massive filleted toranas as a crowning member with a straight fillet above and below. Under this is a dado which is a little higher than the torana itself. Beneath the dado is a bold projection surmounted by a straight fillet and under this is the plinth of which lower stone projects beyond the upper one. There is a stone drain or water spout open at the top for carrying off the water used for the service of the temple. It is placed on the southwestern side of the temple and projects slightly beyond the upper basement.
On plan, the temple is square and measures 8.07 m with plasters at the corners and is 1.22 m in thickness. The interior of the temple is square and measures 4.11 m. The walls of the sanctum are 1.98 thick. The roof is of pyramidal type and the approximate height appears to be around 18.00 m. The entrance to the temple is on the north-western side, the remaining three sides have broad and lofty deep recesses. The interior of the sanctum has no image and the walls are plain. The roof is hollowed out into a hemispherical dome of which the centre is decorated with expanded lotus flowers. The spandrels do not show any trace of figures and as a whole no sculptural or architectural carvings are visible.
A tradition has been recorded by W.G. Cowie, when he visited the temple in 1865, said that the temple was built by one Bonadutt, hence the name Buniyar. No precise date of the temple is available nor Rajatarangini provides any information about it. Cole thinks it to be from fifth-sixth century AD and Sahni considers it to be from the sixth century AD. But it appears that the Buniyar temple was built immediately after the Naranag temple and prior to the Sun temple, Martand1.
1 R.C Agrawal, Kashmir and its Monumental Glory (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 1998), 130-132.