File:012 01 2022 Barsur Battisa Temple Chattisgarh 217.jpg

English: The Battisa temple is a Hindu temple in Bastar Chhattisgarh, notable for its twin architecture that synergistically integrates Hindu temple designs found in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra.

It faces east, shares a common 32-pillar mandapa (battisa means 32 in north and central Indian languages). Two side by side 4x4 pillar add up to a 8x4 plan for pillars. The overall architectural plan is a raised two tiered square, with rectangular garbhagriya that fit within a larger square plan. These sanctums have Shiva linga built with black stone.

The temple is likely from the late 11th or early 12th century, and a heritage from the Chhindaka Naga dynasty. It was sponsored by a Hindu queen named Ganga-Mahadevi, and she named the two temples as Vira-Someshvara and Gangadhareshvara, reverentially after her husband and her name in dedicatory form respectively.

The temple was damaged and relatively simple artwork such as on the Nandi was mutilated during the Sultanate period, and a few ruins are found at this site. This is one of several important historic Hindu sites found in and near Basroor (Basrur) in the Bastar region of Chhatisgarh.

For additional details and scholarly sources: Barsur – The Capital City of the Chhindaka-Nagas