File:0111821 Kadambaguha Hindu Monastery and Bhuteshvara Mandir, Kadwaha MP 220.jpg

English: The matha (monastery) and Bhuteshvara temple of Kadwaya was the primary site of several Hindu monasteries of the Mattamayura tradition. It is named after the saint Kadambaguhadivasin attributed to be the founder of this tradition, which literally means "drunken peacocks". The earliest dated epigraphical evidence that has survived is found at the Ranod Hindu monastery. It mentions Purandara of this tradition, and his role at the monasteries at Kadwaya and Ranod. This matha was captured by the forces of Alaud-Din Khalji who demolished temples and structures here and built a mosque from the temple parts. Later, warrior monks involved in wars with the Mughals demolished the mosque inside this Hindu monastery.

The monastery in Kadwaha was built about 9th century. It is two-storey, with many rooms and a shared open corridor. The Bhuteshwar temple stands next to the matha and is dedicated to Shiva. It has a pancharatha plan and consists of a mandapa and garbhagrha. The notable artwork include those for Shiva, Vishnu, and Shakti traditions. These include Saraswati, Chamunda, Parvati, Saptamatrikas, Varaha, Narasimha, and Dasavataras. On the walls are many secular scenes of daily lives such as a standing mother holding a baby.

Background:

Kadwaya – also referred to as Kadwaha, Kadambaguha and Mattamayurapura – is a historic Hindu site in north Madhya Pradesh. With ancient roots, Kadwaya developed into a monumental Hindu temples town between 8th and 11th century. By the 12th century, it contained over fifteen group of temples, a Shaiva monastery-college site, a range of wells, gardens, and water tanks, according to the scholar Tamara Sears. Kadwaha's rapid growth and fame was partly because of its significance to a Mattamayuras-related Shiva tradition as well as partly because it was on the trade route between the northern kingdoms including those in the Yamuna-Ganga river plains and those in the Deccan and central Indian valleys.

Mattamayuras literally means "drunken Peacocks". This site was not exclusive to the Shaiva tradition; of the fifteen temple groups, five were dedicated to Vishnu, the other ten a blend of Shaiva-Shakta (that is, Shiva and Devi-goddess traditions).

The town was among the earliest targets of conquest by the Delhi Sultanate. The monastery built around itself a fort, in response to attacks and plunder in the 13th century. The town and this fort was conquered by the Tughluq army of the Delhi Sultanate and converted into an Islamic outpost with mosque. It later became a strategic outpost for the Mughals. During this period, many of the temples were reduced to ruins and desecrated. Of these, nine sites of Hindu temples, the Shaiva monastery along with many inscriptions have survived into the modern age. These are important to an objective understanding of the history of central India.

For further scholarly discussions:

• Arvind Singh, Kadwaha temples, in Art, Icon and Architecture in South Asia, pp. 361–382
• Tamara Sears, Following River Routes and Artistic Transmissions in Medieval Central India
• Saurabh Saxena, Kadwaya – The Vestiges of the Mattamayuras