Harsh is village in Sikar
tehsil in Sikar district in Rajasthan, India. It is a place of religious
importance. As of 2001 the population of the village is 6016, out of which 772
are SC and 58 are ST people. Its
geographical location: Latitude 27.52 Longitude 75.18 Altitude (meters) 554.
The place is known for Harasnath temple at Mt. Harsha
It was religious place of
Hindu ruler Chauhan's (Rajput). There is a popular mythological belief which
has come down to people through the centuries that in a village Churu, Chauhan
King Ghangh Singh loved and married an Apsara (nymph) on the condition that he
would not visit her palace without prior information. King Ghangh Singh got a
son called Harsha and a daughter Jeen. Afterwards she again conceived but as
chance would have it King Ghangh Singh went to her palace without prior
intimation and thus violated solemn vow he had made to the Apsara. Instantly
she left the king and fled away with her son Harsha and daughter Jeen, whom she
abandoned at the place where presently the temple stands at place known as
Jeenmata. The two children here practiced extreme asceticism. Later Chauhan
rulers built the temple at that place.
It is an ancient site
famous for the ruins of old Shiva temple (10th century) located on the high
hills of Aravali. The architectural display of the old temple is breathtaking.
It was developed by first Singhraj, the erstwhile Emperor of Ajmer. The
original temple was made in 973 AD and was later destroyed by Mugal Emperor
Aurangjeb in 1679 AD. In 1718 AD, Rao Shivsingh made a new temple adjacent to
the old temple using the ruins of the old temple.
In a paper read before
the Asiatic Society in 1835 Sergeanat E. Dean delivered the inglorious epitaph
to an extraordinary tenth-century Indian temple which he, along with Dr. G.E.
Rankin, had discovered previous year. This site is known as Harshagiri, near
the village of Harasnath about 7 miles south of Sikar town. U.P. Shah in his
article - "Some medieval Sculpture from Gujarat and Rajasthan" writes
of the temple of Harshanatha, which was built in 956 AD and then of sculpture
from Harshagiri datable in c. 961–973 AD and finally of the "Purana Mahadeva
Temple at Harshagiri (c. 961–973 AD).
Professor Kielhorn,
writing in 1894, summarizes the inscription as under:
"The proper object
of the poetical part of inscription, which consists of 48 verses, is to record
the erection of Temple of Shiva, worshipped under the name of Harsha, on the
Hill Harsha, by the Shaiva ascetic Allata ... the value of the inscription is
enhanced by the fact that it yields the names of considerable number of
districts and places, and contains several dates, for one of which the
corresponding European date may be given with absolute certainty."
The first twelve verses
of the inscription are mainly devoted to the glorification of the God Shiva,
styled here as Harshadeva, of his place of residence, the mountain Harsha, and
of the temple erected to the God on that Hill. After that, the poet in verse
13–27, celebrates a line of princes belonging to Chahamana family who are said
to have become illustrious through their devotion to God Harsha.
