File:12th to 13th century Mahudi Champaneri Gate, Dabhoi Gujarat 109.jpg

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Hindu artwork at the Mahudi Gate, Hatha yogins in different asanas below Hindu deities

Summary

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Description
English: Mahudi Gate, also known as Champaneri Gate or Mahudi Bhagol, is the northern gate of the historic Dabhoi fort. It is elaborately carved with Hindu artwork and is one of the best illustrations of Hindu architecture for forts by the 12th-century. The Mahudi gate served as the gateway between Dabhoi and Pavagadh–Champaner – the historic capital of a kingdom in eastern Gujarat.

Dabhoi is an ancient city. The literary and archaeological evidence suggests it was already a major town by the 6th-century CE. It became a capital about 10th-century, was fortified by the 11th-century. Inscriptions suggest that a more elaborate stone fort was already complete in the 12th-century and additions to the fort were made in the 13th-century. Dabhoi was invaded and plundered in the 14th-century by the Delhi Sultanate, then became a part of Gujarat Sultanate.

The Mahudi gate is about 16 feet wide and 30 feet deep. Pilasters line both sides of the gate. These pilasters narrow the passage space and support arches with intricate Indian artwork. Near the middle is a small room embedded on both sides of the gate. These rooms are about 60 square feet. The gate had a thick outer and inner door, but this is no longer present. A modern road passes under the gate and is used to serve the modern era city traffic.

The Mahudi gate is notable for the surviving Hatha Yoga asana artwork and the reliefs of the founders and the most celebrated Hatha Yoga proponents in pre-12th century India. These Yoga asana panels were badly damaged and there is evidence of deliberate mutilation of the artwork (chopped limbs, beheaded, gouged out, etc). Yet, they help date the chronology of Hindu iconography and Hatha Yoga in western India. They also confirm the popularity, royal support and significance of Yoga amongst the Hindus.

The Mahudi gate also includes Shaiva, Vaishnava and Shakta artwork such as the one above, as well as secular iconography found in historic Hindu temples.
Date
Source Own work
Author Ms Sarah Welch
Camera location22° 08′ 15.63″ N, 73° 25′ 10.29″ E  Heading=315.09561128527° Kartographer map based on OpenStreetMap.View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMapinfo

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current19:39, 13 June 2024Thumbnail for version as of 19:39, 13 June 20243,300 × 4,400 (10.29 MB)Ms Sarah Welch (talk | contribs)Uploaded own work with UploadWizard

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