Category:Bishweshwar Mahadev Temple, Bajaura

Basheshar Mahadev Temple, Bajaura 

8th to 9th century stone temple in Himachal Pradesh, India
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Instance of	Hindu temple
Location	Bajaura, Himachal Pradesh, Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh, India
Maintained by	Archaeological Survey of India, Shimla circle
Heritage designation	Monument of National Importance
31° 50′ 50″ N, 77° 09′ 52″ E
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Bishweshwar Mahadev temple, also known as Basheshwar Mahadev or Visveshvara Mahadeva Mandir, is an 8th to 9th century stone temple for Shiva near river Beas in Bajaura, Himachal Pradesh, India. It is one of the oldest known stone temples in Kullu valley, notable for its exceptional Hindu artwork for Durga, Vishnu and Ganesha.

The temple has a square plan in the Nagara style. It stone carvings are unusual and show influences from Kashmir as well as ideas that must have emerged in Himachal Hindu monasteries. The outer walls of the temple have three niches, with Ganesha in the south, Vishnu in the west and Durga Mahisasuramardini in the north. Thus, this temple reveres all three major Hindu traditions – Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism. It is the artwork in these niches that suggest the antiquity of this temple. The sanctum has a big Shiva linga, and the sanctum's entrance is flanked by Yamuna and Ganga goddesses, as with almost all major historic Hindu temples.

The right door jamb of the temple has a small inscription from the 17th-century in Tankari script. It is attributed to a Raja from the hill kingdom around Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, which confirms the continuing significance of the Bajaura Mahadeva temple over the centuries.

This is a category about ASI monument number N-HP-27.