Masrur is 32 km from Kangra on Nagrota Surian
link road and is famous for remarkable group of rock
cut temples. They form a group of 15 monolithic
rock cut temples in the Indo Aryan style and are
richly carved. These richly ornamented cave temples
are the only rock shrines in the northern part of
India.The main shrine contains three stone images of
Ram laxman and Sita but the presence of the figure
of Shiva in the centre of the lintel affords a
strong presumption that the temple was originally
dedicated to Mahadeva.
Before dealing with the questions of its builders and the
time of its construction, it is important to discuss the rock-cut
technique and the place this temple-complex occupies among the
rockhewn monuments in India. The rock-cut style started
in the reign of the Pallava king Narsingha varman I
Mahamalla (630-668 A.D.) during the first half of the seventh
century . It reached its climax in the Kailasha temples
at Ellora which were taken in hand during the reign of the
Rashtrakuta King Dantidurga (753- 756 A.D.) and finished
during that of Krishna I (758-773 A.D.). Though rock-cut
caves are common in South India, yet temples cut out of
freestanding rocks, known to archaeologists and art
critics, are only four in number-'Rathas of Mammalapuram',
'Kailashas at Ellora', 'temple-complex at Masrur in
Kangra' and the 'Dharmnatha temple at Dhamnar', 65 miles to the
South-East of Jhalra Patan in Rajasthan. The Rathas
and the Kailashas are built in the Dravidian style, whereas
the Masrur and Dhamnar ones are in the Nagara style. Masrur beats
its Nagara rival in situation, size and execution. The Masrur
complex has 15 temples, the Dhamnar has onl y 8. At
Masrur temples not separate from it surround the central
shrine, but at Dhamnar the smaller ones are entirely
separate from the main one. Carvings and ornamentation at
Masrur are of a much superior order than at Dhamnar and
the length of the latter is one- third of the former. The
Dhamnar group has been built in a pit-like hollow, whereas the
Masrur group is on top of a 2500 feet high hill range. One looks
below, the other looks up. One depresses, the other elates.
In point of situation, Masrur beats the other two also.
Ellora Kailasha are built in a pit a hundred feet.
However, Kailasha at Ellora is a supreme creation, one of
the wonders of the world.
Rock-cut style is much more difficult than the structural
one. In the latter, the artist shapes the material as he
likes, whereas in the former the Material determines the
way the artist should move. The limitation makes an artist
creation out of a rock a most difficult task and the ability
with which the remote artist of seventh and eighth centuries
carried out their purpose is superhuman. Only a few of
the original shikharas stand and some of the most
beautifully carved panels are now in the state museum,
Shimla. The main shrine dominates the centre. Although the
remote location of these temples protected them from the
invading army of Mahmud Ghazni and their stone construction
prevented severe damage in the1905 earthquake.
