Masroor Rock-Cut Temples are a spectacular cluster of 15 rock-cut shrines carved from a single sandstone cliff, overlooking a small tank and facing the Dhauladhar range. Their tall, tapering shikhara-like forms and detailed sculptures have led people to compare them to a Himalayan version of Angkor Wat. The complex is largely dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Devi, with a central sanctum that once housed a group of Ram-Lakshman-Sita images. Weathering and the 1905 earthquake damaged parts of the carvings, but the surviving walls, pillars and reliefs still show extraordinary craftsmanship.
About this place
History & highlights
Archaeological and stylistic studies date Masroor to around the 8th–9th century CE, making it one of North India’s earliest and most ambitious rock-cut Hindu temple projects. Its plan follows Nagara-style temple architecture, but instead of building up from blocks, artisans carved down into the living rock, creating shrines, passageways and reliefs in situ. The reasons and patrons remain uncertain; Masroor may have been associated with a regional dynasty asserting power through a grand sacred complex facing the mountains. The site was affected by invasions and by the 1905 Kangra earthquake, which cracked towers and walls, yet enough remains to show a high point of early Himalayan temple art. Today it is protected by the ASI and promoted as a key heritage attraction of Kangra district.
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