Neelkanth Temple, Alwar

The Neelkanth Temple is a Shiva shrine on a remote hilltop in Alwar district, within the outer buffer area of the Sariska reserve, inside the ruined walls of the Rajorgarh Fort. Shiva is worshipped here as Neelkanth, the blue-throated god. Inscriptions dated 961 CE and rock edicts in the reserve show it was built by Maharajadhiraja Mathanadeva, a Bargujar ruler who owed allegiance to the Pratiharas. The settlement was known as Rajyapura and Paranagar in earlier times.

Only a steep path leads up to it. The complex once held some 200 temples, said to have been wrecked by Aurangzeb's army; this is the only one left standing, and local legend says the soldiers withdrew when angry swarms of bees attacked them. The surviving temple has carved pillars and tall spires, set among forest and ruins.