Bhojeshwar Temple is an Unsolved Mystery, where the Future was Predicted in Past

Bhojeshwar Temple is an ancient hindu temple that has kept many unknown secret, historical events and hindu mythology (Purana) in its fragile abandoned bricks. Every ancient Hindu temple is a living museum in itself that informs the people of the ancient society, temple science, arts, literature, science and engineering of the past through inscriptions and hidden information engraved on temple wall. The Bhojeshwar Temple is a perfect example of this type living museum with mysteries around it. The Bhojeshwar Temple is such a strange temple that not only tells the lost stories of the past but also indicates the future that had been predicted in the past. Also confirmed that critical surgery was performed in ancient India. Yes the temple is related to Bhavishya Purana. (Read the column – Mysterious King Bhoja). Civilization develops over time and lost again. But that vanishing stories of human civilizations still breath in the grooves of the lifeless stones of an ancient temple. Yes, even a temple has life. 

Bhojeshwar Temple is an unfinished Hindu temple situated in Madhya Pradesh, India, village of Bhojpur on the bank of Betwa river. The Bhojeshwar Temple is dedicated to Bhagwan Shiva. The wondering Shivling situated here is constructed of single stone and has a length of 18 feet. And it weighs 7.5 feet in diameter. Construction of the temple is assumed to have started in the 11th century, during the rule of king Bhoja. Bhoja was an Indian ruler of the Paramara dynasty, whose empire was centered around the Malwa region of today's Madhya Pradesh. Although many believe that 7th century was the correct arrival time of King Bhoja instead of 11th century. He established the city Bhopal, formerly named Bhojpal. He is reported to have constructed three major dams and huge reservoirs to provide sufficient water during dry weather. Unfortunately later the reservoirs were destroyed by Sultan Hoshang Shah of Malwa. For unknown purposes, the construction was stopped, with the architectural designs graved on the rocks around it. Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has designated the temple as a Monument of National Importance. The site won the National Tourism Award in 2015.

Mysterious King Bhoja:

We also find references to the King Bhoj in the Puranas. Bhoja-Prabandha confirms he suffered from intense headaches early in his life. Two brahmin surgeons from Ujjain made him unconscious using an anaesthetic powder called moha-churna, opened his cranial bone, removed a tumor and then gave him another powder called sanjivani to recover his consciousness. A legend from the Bhavishya Purana describes Bhoja as descending of Vikramaditya and Shalivahana. As per this story, by the time of Bhoja's ascension the influence of the mleccha (foreign) had corrupted Indian culture. Here's how the story was found, according to Wikipedia. “Bhoja marched up to the banks of the Indus river, and defeated several mleccha kings. The poet Kalidasa, who accompanied him, magically turned into ashes a mleccha named Mahamada, whose followers came to be known as Muslim. After returning to his capital, Bhoja established Sanskrit language among the top three varnas and Prakrit language among the Shudras. During his 50-year reign, Aryavarta (the land between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas) became a blessed land where the varna system was established. On the other hand, caste mixture took place beyond the Vindhyas (that is, in South India)." 

From the ancient inscriptions we came to know a lot about the King Bhoja, for example according to the Udaipur Prashasti inscription subsequent rulers King Bhoja “Covered the earth with temples”. Much of the temples were dedicated to the different aspects of Lord Shiva, such as Rudra, Somanatha, Kedareshvara, Rameshwara and Kala. In his Prabandha-Chintamani, the Jain writer Merutunga mentions that Bhoja alone constructed more than 100 temples in his capital city, Dhara. Unfortunately many temples was destroyed by the invaders. Few survived temples can be can be attributed to Bhoja. In 2003, many important copper plate inscriptions had been discovered in Depalpur, Dhar Bhojpur, Ujjain which were dated to King Bhoja. The inscriptions were issued by the King himself. Most inscriptions are in Sanskrit language and Nagari script, though some engravings have several Prakrit phrases too. Assuming that the era of most of the inscription is Vikrama Samvat and the year as Karttikadi.

Temple Science: 

The Bhojpur temple has a number of strange elements, The Bhojeshwar Temple has a domed roof. This temple was built before the advent of Islam in India, so the incomplete domed roof above the sanctum of this temple testifies to the practice of dome construction in India itself. Even though the technology of their construction is different. Some scholars consider it the first domed roofed building in India. The door of this temple is also the largest in the gates of any Hindu building. The fifth feature of this temple is its four pillars with a height of 40 feet. The incomplete roof of the sanctuary rests on these four pillars. Another interesting side of the Bhojeshwar temple is the slope at the back of the temple, which was used to transport huge stones during the temple under construction. No such ancient grand construction technology is available to transport the ingredients to the top of the structure anywhere in the world. This is a proof, which revealed the mystery of how huge stones weighing 70 tones were transported to the top of the temple. The construction work suddenly stopped unexpectedly. The causes are not clear but historians believe that a sudden natural disaster, a shortage of resources, or a war may have caused abandonment. The architectural pieces, raw materials, stone blocks, markings of temple plans are still to be found around the temple region even today. The house lacked a roof before being restored during 2006–07. On this basis, archeologist KK Muhammed argues that the roof could have collapsed due to a mathematical error during the load calculation; subsequently, circumstances could have stopped King Bhoja from rebuilding it. 

Carved rock fragments near the entrance

Additional Facts:

The State Government conducts the special event, Bhojpur Utsav, at the site around Maha Shivaratri every year for the devote and tourists. Another attraction for the tourist is the small museum dedicated to the Temple of Bhojeshwar Shiva which is located about 200 meters from the main temple. You can perceive the history and the social picture of the past time of Raja Bhoja through the posters and sketches portrayed at the museum. The museum also some important books written by Raja Bhoj he wrote, as well as the mason marks. In front of the Bhojpur Shiv temple, there is a cave in the western direction, which is known as Parvati Cave. There are many hidden idols of archeological importance in this cave.