File:011721 Venkat Bihari temple, Kalinjar Fort, Uttar Pradesh 067.jpg

English: The Venkat Bihari temple monument is a c. 18th-century Vishnu temple ruins to the northwest of Rani Mahal in Kalinjar Fort. It illustrates Bundela architecture and Hindu temple design with many elements of Chhatris, Rajput and Maratha style.

This unusual looking Hindu temple has all the core elements such as mandapa, antarala and garbhagriya. After entry and passage through a rectangular mandapa, there is a circumambulation corridor around the square sanctum. The statue that was once here is now missing. Outside are domes and umbrella-like observation chhatris on top of the mandapa, while the sanctum is topped by the largest onion-shaped bulb (sikhara). Thus, this was designed as a functional temple.

This and other 18th-century Hindu temples in this region reflect the generational loss of traditional skills, texts and knowledge of Hindu architecture, and a major shift in the competence retained by shilpins and artisan schools. For much of the 16th and 17th century, the Mughals, regional Nawabs and Sultans patronized predominantly Indo-Saracenic architecture. The 18th century Hindu temples built by Bundelas, Marathas and Rajputs had little choice but to adopt the knowledge and skills retained, developed and readily available over the Mughal era.