Next gallery is at the second level, which is few stairs above the first gallery. It seems that the second gallery has been damaged or it is not fully constructed.
The wooden stairs have been installed to climb up, which is bit risky for old age people and those having problem with legs. Entrance from main entrance to the temple is fine because of stone path which is flat in shape, but after that the difficulty level increases.
The second level has Lord Buddha temples and the remnant of the destroyed statues of gods and goddesses. However, the second level has now been completely transformed into Lord Buddha temple. The architecture of the second level is also breathtaking, with structures like carved stone bar window.
This gallery was wide and open from all side, almost symmetrical in shape and size.
There was large space alongside the temple which is similar to the Hawan area or Aangan as found in traditional Indian temples, which was used to perform spiritual works like Hawan or Katha – Spiritual talks. There were stairs to enter into the empty area and one of the guide was explaining to tourists that, it was made with the intention to store water, but I don’t agree with this statement because the architecture is such that it prevents water to store. There water outlet was very clearly visible and hence it neglects the theory of storage water and it is clear that the construction was done to perform the spiritual works.
This gallery is now completely dedicated to lord Buddha and his statue is now worshipped inside the main temple.
This gallery also stores many stone figures of gods and goddesses which have been beheaded, but still the faith of worshipers has not faded, which symbolizes that, “The presence of god is relevant but not his idol”. The beheaded idols have been kept with utmost honor and they depict the different “Dhyan Mudras” of Lord Buddha.
Above is the beheaded statue of Lord Buddha in ” Dhyan Mudra”
Above is the beheaded statue of Lord Buddha in ” Bhumisparsa Mudra”
Another statue in “Dhyan Mudra”
It was indeed painful to see the destruction of religion, whichever it may be, but still faith never dies and this is the spirit which keeps us alive and the same was also demonstrated by the monk, who was sitting there, offering blessings and chanting prayers. The voice of monk was loud and it was creating echo effects inside the premises, but it was soothing for the ears, to hear the spiritual voice during sunrise, however we could not understand a single alphabet.
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