Magderu Temple

Magderu is an 8th-century temple of the Maitraka period near Dhrasanvel village in Okhamandal taluka, about three miles north-east of Dwarka. It is a Monument of National Importance cared for by the Archaeological Survey of India. The scholars M. A. Dhaky and J. M. Nanavati suggest the 'Maga' in its name links it to the Maga Brahmins, sun worshippers who came to western India from Iran, so it may first have been a Sun temple; it may also have been built for Shiva, to whom it now belongs.

The north-facing temple stands on a low platform and is of the seven-shrine type, a large central shrine with six smaller ones around it; the eastern one probably held Nandi. The central shrine, the earliest known five-fold plan in the region, has a lattice-patterned early Nagara spire, now partly ruined, plain walls and a plain doorway. Its hall has been restored, and a pedestal remains from images of the Saptamatrikas.