Kakanmath Temple

Kakanmath is a ruined Shiva temple at Sihoniya in Madhya Pradesh, built by the Kachchhapaghata ruler Kirttiraja, who reigned about 1015–1035. An inscription at the Sas-Bahu temple in Gwalior says that he raised an extraordinary temple to Shiva at Simhapaniya, today's Sihoniya. A folk tale names it after Kakanavati, queen of one Surajpala, though the story is doubtful; the name may come instead from kanak, gold, and math, shrine.

The complex once had a central temple with four smaller shrines around it, but only the ruined central temple stands, its outer walls, balconies and part of the spire probably brought down by an earthquake. On an ornate base are a sanctum with a passage around it, a vestibule and two halls, the inner one resting on four clusters of four pillars, and the tower once took it to about 30 metres. Pillar inscriptions record a renovation in 1393–94 and a pilgrim's visit in 1440–41. Two lions from its steps now stand at the Archaeological Museum in Gwalior.