Category:Lakshana Devi Temple, Bharmour

Lakshana Devi Temple, Bharmour 

7th century Durga Mahisasuramardini temple in Himachal Pradesh, India
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Instance of	Hindu temple
Location	Bharmour, Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh, India
Architectural style	Hindu temple architecture
Maintained by	Archaeological Survey of India, Shimla circle
Heritage designation	Monument of National Importance
32° 26′ 32.8″ N, 76° 32′ 14.72″ E
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The Lakshana Devi Temple, also called Laxmi Devi mandir or Lakhana temple, is a 7th-century temple dedicated to Durga Mahisasuramardini in Bharmour village (Brahmor) of Himachal Pradesh. It is notable for its late Gupta Hindu artwork and style. The goddess statue in the sanctum is notable for the dedicatory inscription that starts with "Om" and acknowledges its sponsor, the king Meru Varma. This inscription also acknowledges the artisan Gugga, as wells as helps date this temple. The brass statue offers to the cultural mores of the 7th century. She wears a scarf, a flowing ankle-length skirt, a blouse, jewelry, stands with a smile as she kills the buffalo demon. The statue follows the proportions described in Markendeya Purana.

The Lakshana Devi temple has a rectangular mandapa in front with wooden pillars. Its facade is similar to the surviving ruins found in early Hindu temples of Kashmir and north Pakistan. On the wooden beam below the roof is an image of Surya with twelve hands and seven horses (symbolism for seven days of week, twelve months). The entrance is flanked with Ganga and Yamuna goddesses in late Gupta style. The temple holds some of the finest historic Hindu artwork in wood in Himachal Pradesh, useful for comparative archaeological and iconographic studies with early wood artwork found in Kerala. The themes are equally important; they include Shiva, avataras of Vishnu, Surya, other manifestations of the goddess, and Vedic deities. Like major Hindu temples, mithuna scenes (amorous, kama) as well as artha scenes are included in the miniature niches of the temple.

The Chamba Vamsavali text mentions this temple, calls Lakshana Devi as Bhagavati and Bhadra Kali, thus affirming that all these names were considered in 7th-century as another aspect of the same goddess, Parvati–Durga Mahisasuramardini by Hindu artisans and scribes of this temple.

This is a category about ASI monument number N-HP-2.