Category:Delmal Group of Temples

Limboj Mata temple, Delmal 

group of Hindu temples in Gujarat
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Instance of	Hindu temple
Location	Delmal, Chanasma Taluka, Patan district, Gujarat, India
Heritage designation	Monument of National Importance
23° 38′ 31.1″ N, 71° 59′ 38.2″ E
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Delmal, also spelled Dilmal, was once a major city in northern Gujarat with numerous Hindu and Jain temples. Destroyed in Sultanate-era wars, it is now a small town with narrow streets. Delmal has cluster of significant temples, mostly from the 10th to 13th-century era, intricately carved. One group called the Limboji Mata Devabhumi – sometimes referred to as Limbaja Mataji Tirtha – consists of five temples (main shrine is dedicated to Shaktism, others to Surya, Vishnu and others). It is an active temple.

After his visit to Delmal, Henry Cousens wrote, "The surrounding smaller shrines [of Delmal], which were appendages to an older central temple, still remain in good preservation and, by their careful finish and abundant detail, show that they were constructed at a period when Hindu architecture was in the zenith of its excellence."

Other temples are spread within few kilometers of this temple group, all in ruined form, some restored. The ruins artwork and inscriptions found in these temples suggest that the temple tradition here traces to 8th to 10th century, several attempts were made after 14th-century to restore some of the temples after repeated destructions. Some damage was also done in late 19th-century, when colonial era contractors dismantled a few temples here and carted off the masonry for construction work, according to the archaeologist and historian Henry Cousens.