Category:Kam Kandala temple, Bilhari

The Kam Kandala temple and palace – also referred to as Kamakandala ruins – is located on a hill about 2 kilometers northwest of the village of Bilhari, Madhya Pradesh. It stands on a platform, but only a part of its pillared mandapa survives. It was once a large temple given the size of the platform. Nearby, there are mounds and remains of others structures – this entire hilly terrain site has been remembered regionally as Kam Mandala Mahal since the 19th-century. This and Bilhari village ruins attracted considerable interests from British era archaeologists who visited it several times, photographed the ruins (now in British Library collection), and they published several surveys.

The historic fame of Kama Kandala palace, fort and temples near Bilhari is from the legend of Madhavanala and Kamakandala – a love story found in Hindu texts such as the 15th-century Madhavanala Kamakandala Prabhandha. It is also found in Jain texts such as the Mādhavānalakāmakandalākathā, and in Muslim versions. Madhava is described as a handsome and exceptional musician from a Brahmin family who travels around making music and singing love stories from Hindu texts such as those about Krishna, Nala-Damayanti and others. His charms are legendary. Women scream, weep and run after him, but Madhava goes on to his next stop. One day he arrives in Pushpavati (Bilhari). His music and songs make the queen and palace women go wild. The king is worried and jealous. Madhava meets a courtesan's daughter named Kamakandala. He is smitten by her. She by him. They meet. They fall in love. The king, worried by the effect of Madhava on the women in Pushpavati, banishes Madhava from his kingdom. Madhava goes to Ujjain. The story is long, full of plots and passions, as the two lovers try to reconnect. The legend in presented in two versions in pre-14th century Hindu texts. In one, the king learns about their unending love, helps them meet again and get married. In another version, ultimately, due to misinformation and fabricated lies, the lovers die, in a sequence somewhat similar to Romeo and Juliet. This story has been the subject of regional Hindu plays as well as several 16th to 18th-century Mughal era paintings.