ABOUT

Devrani and Jethani temple is located in Chhattisgarh in Tala. The temples, adjacent to each other, owe their names to their dimensions. The somewhat larger one was christened Jethani (elder sister-in-law) by the villagers while the smaller one came to be known as Devrani. Devrani temple is the smaller one which is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple faces the east direction. The river Maniyari flows on the back side of the temple. The size of the temple is 75x32 feet and has an exceptional ground plan. It consists of a Garbhagriha, antarala, and narrow mukhmandapa preceded by an open space, approach 1ed by a flight of steps with a large chandra shila. The mukhamandapa has a beautiful doorway, depicting river goddess on the bottom part of the door jamb. On the lalatbimba Gajalakshmi is shown in bold relief. The bhitti part rises up to a height of 10 feet but the sikhara is missing. Jethani Temple faces south direction and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Although it is partially exposed, the ground plan of the temple is clearly visible. It consists of a sanctum and a Mandapa in front. It has entrances from three sides i.e., south, east and west. The main entrance of the temple could be approached through a wide flight of steps. In the surrounding area shafts of the massive pillars are lying scattered and decorated with different types of motifs. The basal part of the pillar is designed with kumbhas. The upper part of the pillar consists of a convex-lobbed amalaka resting upon a vase, decorated with festoons hanging from lion's mouth. Sanctum part is much damaged and no traces of the superstructure are available. Gaja-Mukha or Dikpalas are visible in basement. This site is a precious Cultural Heritage of the world and is worthy to be included in the list of World Heritage