Barasuru

Barasuru, or Barsur, was a capital of the Chhindaka Naga rulers of Bastar. Its stone temples and great images of Ganesha stand among the remains of a once important town in the forested Indravati country. The Battisa temple takes its name from the thirty-two pillars of the hall shared by two Shiva shrines.

An inscription dated 1060 records that Chandraditya, a subordinate of the Naga ruler Jagadekabhushana, excavated a tank at Barasuru and built a Shiva temple beside it. He granted a village for the shrine’s upkeep. Other temples, including the Mama Bhanja and Battisa shrines, reflect the architectural activity of the Naga period. The dynasty held power in the Chakrakota region until the early fourteenth century, leaving the temples and inscriptions of Barasuru as a record of its patronage.