Kalayat Ancient Brick Temples

The Kalayat Ancient Brick Temple Complex stands in Kalayat town, Kaithal district, Haryana, and is a stop on the 48 kos parikrama of Kurukshetra. The town's name is thought to come from Kapilayatana, 'home of sage Kapila', and tradition links the temples with Raja Shalivahana (Sálbán). Local legend says five brick temples once stood beside the holy tank; the layout suggests a panchayatana group, with a main shrine and four subsidiary ones, but only two survive, one of them heavily altered.

Built in the 8th century in the Nagara style of the Gurjara-Pratihara school, the temples use locally made red bricks, carved and laid without plaster or mortar. Bricks in the spire form a beehive pattern recalling the facades of the chaitya halls at Ajanta and Ellora. One is a Shiva temple of the Pancha Ratha type with a linga and a snake figure. Steps at the back lead to the Kapil Muni Tirtha, where pilgrims bathe before worship, and the complex also has temples to Katyayini Devi and Hanuman.