Parliament House inspired by temple in Chambal?

Morena: A unique ancient temple resembling Parliament House stands atop a hill surrounded by ravines in Madhya Pradesh's Chambal Valley.

The 8th-century Chausat Yogini temple is on more than 100 stone pillars and is said to have inspired the design for Parliament House.

The circular temple complex boasts of 64 chambers each housing a shivling while the central compound has a colossal shrine with a shivling within.

The temple is under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and renovation is in progress.

There was a time when each chamber also had an idol of yogini accompanying Shiva. While some yogini idols were stolen, some others are adorning Indian museums, ASI sources said.

The circular temple, located in Chambal division and accessed by about 200 steps, was once a well-known tantricism centre and some people still perform tantric rituals, including 'yajna' there.

Built by the Pratihara rulers, the temple -- dedicated to Shiva the destroyer god of the Hindus -- is near Mitawli village about 45 km from this district town and situated in Rithora area.

A look from a distance reveals that the temple, built using red and brown-coloured sandstone found abundantly in Rithora area, bears a startling resemblance to Parliament House and attracts tourists from far and near but the number of foreigners is negligible thanks to lack of proper publicity, paucity of power, water, roads and security.

However, security was beefed up at the temple itself after incidents involving idol smugglers. This northern Madhya Pradesh district, which is known for its 'goli' (bullets) and 'boli' (dialect) courtesy its location in the once banditry-ravaged Valley, also has a treasure trove of heritage.

The Tourism Department is yet to make any of its vehicles ply on the monuments circuit in Rithora area. In the vicinity of the Chausat Yogini temple are the Padawali and Shanichari shrines. Due to several quarries in the area, the stone mafia is active and has been damaging the temples by triggering blasts in the quarries.

''Illegal quarrying has taken its toll on the temples. The process of re-erecting the group of Shiva shrines at Bateshwar had to be undertaken several times,'' said ASI official Ashok Sharma.

As a silver lining, a district taskforce was instrumental in stopping unauthorised quarrying by taking action against the mafia from time to time.