Description

The name Kalayat seems to be derived from Kapilayatana, meaning the ‘home of sage Kapila’, the preacher of Sankhya-darshan of Indian philosophy. But at present, only two such temples survive and they are dated to circa 8th century AD. Built from carved bricks with fine and thin mortar; these temples are good examples of early Hindu temple architecture and exhibit creative use of flower representative specimen of Gurjara-Pratijara style. Most striking features of these temples are the arrangements of the carved bricks. Out of the two surviving temples; one remains archaeologically better preserved; whereas the other one underwent heavy modifications. They are possibly the only surviving specimens of north Indian temple in this part of the country belonging to pre-Muslim era.