Category:Thubon, Madhya Pradesh

Thubon, Madhya Pradesh 

A village with many historic sites in Bundelkhand
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Instance of	village
Location	Ashoknagar district, Gwalior division, Madhya Pradesh, India
24° 39′ 45.8″ N, 77° 59′ 57.4″ E
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Thubon, also referred to as Thubonji, Thobon, Thoban or Thubana, is one of the major sites of 7th to 12th-century Hindu and Jain temples, as well as a matha (monastery). The site is notable for the mandapika-style temples and their evolution. This style can be traced to the Gupta Empire era, coming in vogue in the 6th-century. The most interesting monuments of Thubon are attributed to the Pratihara dynasty

Thubon is about 10 miles radially southwest of Chanderi – another important historic site of central India. It is close to the west bank of the Aur (Orr) river. According to the scholar Peter Flugel, Thubon was an important part of the Hindu and Jain temples and monastery network that once included the Rakhetra rock-cut Hindu and Jain caves. This network included other monastery-college sites such as those at Terahi, Kadwaha, Mahua, Indor, Sakarra, Ranod, Surwaya, Baktar and Burhi Chanderi.

The Thubon site has twenty one temples in five groups, and one monastery. These groups are officially identified as Sitamarhi group, Hanuman marhi, Mahadev ghat group, Andhakuan group and Hori ki marhi (Marh or मढ़ is regional equivalent of Matha or monastery). There are many more empty foundations and ruins scattered around Thubonji in about 20 square kilometers area. The temples and monastery are dedicated to Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, Surya, Hanuman and select Jain Tirthankaras. The Thubon monuments and artwork show signs of natural erosion as well as deliberate mutilation (defacement, beheading, chopping limbs, etc).

The Thubon site was unknown in scholarly publications before the 20th-century, though known to and revered by the local Hindus. Its ruins and mounds were accidentally discovered and reported in scholarly literature in 1910s by Garde, but thereafter remained unexplored and overgrown with vegetation. An ASI team rediscovered and excavated them in the 1980s, publishing a more systematic survey in 1990. In the 21st century, Thubonji has re-emerged as a Jain pilgrimage site with new temples.