Martand Sun Temple

Martand Sun Temple is in Ananatnag which is located at a distance of 53 Kms from Srinagar. According to Kalhana the Martand Sun Temple is an eighth century (CE) Hindu temple built by Lalitaditya Muktapida of the Karkota dynasty. It was dedicated to Surya, the chief solar deity in Hinduism; Surya is also known by the Sanskrit-language synonym Martand . Martand Sun Temple is one of the three holiest sites of pilgrimage for Kashmiri Pandits, alongside the Sharada Peeth and the Amarnath Temple.

According to Jonaraja  as well as Hasan Ali, the temple was destroyed by Sikandar Shah Miri (1389-1413) in zeal to islamise the society under the advice of Sufi preacher Mir Muhammad Hamadani.

The ruins and the remnants of the Temple were further ruined by several earthquakes.

The Martand temple was built on top of a plateau from where one can view whole of the Kashmir Valley. From the ruins and related archaeological findings, it can be said it was an excellent specimen of Kashmiri architecture, which had blended the Gandharan, Gupta and Chinese forms of architecture.

The temple has a colonnaded courtyard, with its primary shrine in its center and surrounded by 84 smaller shrines, stretching to be 220 feet long and 142 feet broad total and incorporating a smaller temple that was previously built. The temple turns out to be the largest example of a peristyle in Kashmir, and is complex due to its various chambers that are proportional in size and aligned with the overall perimeter of the temple. In accordance with Hindu temple architecture, the primary entrance to the temple is situated in the western side of the quadrangle and is the same width as the temple itself, creating grandeur. The entrance is highly reflective of the temple as a whole due to its elaborate decoration and allusion to the deities worshiped inside. The primary shrine is located in a centralised structure (the temple proper) that is thought to have had a pyramidal top - a common feature of the temples in Kashmir. Various wall carvings in the antechamber of the temple proper depict other gods, such as Vishnu, and river goddesses, such as Ganga and Yamuna, in addition to the sun-god Surya.