Category:Sihoniya

Sihoniya 

A village and historic site north of Gwalior, that was once the capital of Kacchapaghata dynasty
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Instance of	village
Location	Morena district, Chambal division, Madhya Pradesh, India
26° 34′ 24″ N, 78° 15′ 55″ E
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Sihoniya is a small village in Chambal valley and a historic site in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh. Before the 12th-century, it was a city and the first capital of the Kachchhapaghata dynasty. The earliest mention of this site is found in late Gupta and post-Gupta era references dated between the 5th and 6th century CE. According to Hindu and Jain texts, as well as many inscriptions discovered here, Sihoniya was home to many large temples and at least two monasteries. It is variously named as Simhapaniya, Suddhanapura, Suddhaniya, Suhaniya in historic references, a name that has evolved into modern Sihoniya. The historic city and the temples were almost entirely destroyed after the 12th-century during the Delhi Sultanate conquest of central India. Some scholars posit that some of the secondary damage may be due to an earthquake.

Sihoniya was one of the early survey sites for British era archaeologists. According to Alexander Cunningham and ASI notes, many temple parts, inscribed stones, artwork and ruins from Sihoniya were moved to European and colonial era Indian museums. The Gwalior museum has one of the largest collection of Sihoniya ruins in India, including the two massive stone lions that grace its entrance. Recovered ruins and elegant artwork are currently embedded into the active village temples such as the one for Hanuman, Durga, Shantinatha (Jain); as well as other buildings and public structures such as dharmashala and wells. Discoveries of scattered temple parts and artwork from farms and mounds continue to be reported for several kilometers around Sihoniya village.

The modern remote village of Sihoniya has one notable restored Jain temple and the ruins of Kakanmath temple built by a Hindu queen. The Hindu temple is the older of the two, while the Jain complex has roots in late 10th century CE.