View source for Baro (or Barnagar)

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This article has been extracted from <br/>

THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908.<br/>

OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.
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[[Category:India|B]]
[[Category:Places|B]]
''Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts.Many units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value. ''
=Baro (or Barnagar)=
==Barnagar==

Village and ancient site in the Gwalior State, 
Central India, lying in 23° 56' N. and 78° 14' E. Baro is now only 
a small village, with a population (1901) of 533; but the neighbour- 
hood is covered with the remains of an ancient city of considerable 
size, the ruins extending to the neighbouring town of Pathari. The 
principal remains consist of Hindu and Jain temples, chiefly situated 
close to a large tank, the waters of which are held up by a fine old 
stone dam. The village stands at the foot of the Gayanath hill, a part 
of the arm of the Vindhyas which strikes north from Bhilsa, The 
sandstone and shales of the Vindhya series are well exposed here, and 
the former has been employed in constructing the temples and houses 
of Baro. 

The finest building is the Gadarmal temple, on the western 
bank of the tank ; and though the existing structure is a restoration of 
the original shrine, as the heterogeneous nature of its spire shows, it is 
still a magnificent example of mediaeval Hindu architecture. The 
shape of the sanctuary is interesting, being oblong instead of square, 
and within it is an unusually fine sculptured figure. The temple 
formerly stood in a spacious courtyard and was surrounded by seven 
smaller shrines, now mere heaps of bricks. The entrance to the court- 
yard lay through a lofty gate of which one richly carved pillar is still 
standing. The temples in this group are all Saivite, there being no 
Jain sculptures, as Cunningham has erroneously stated. The other 
large temple is called the Jain Mandir, and has evidently been restored 
by Jains from the remains of a Hindu building. It is entirely enclosed 
by a high wall, in the centre of which there is a samadhi or ascetic's 
tomb. A gallery runs round all four sides, the shrines, which number 
eighteen in all and are of various sizes, lying behind it. Six spires and 
several domes surmount the building, and have been made up of the 
remains of Hindu and Jain temples, carved with images peculiar to 
each religion. The cells, however, contain only Jain images. Tradition 
relates that Baro was once a large and wealthy city, but was destroyed 
at the end of the seventeenth century by Chhatarsal, the chief of Panna, 
who sacked the town. It is, however, impossible that a Hindu should 
have injured the temples, which show evident signs of Muhammadan 
violence. 

[A. Cunningham, Archaeological Survey Reports, vol. x, p. 71. ]