Sirpur Group of Monuments

Sirpur, the ancient Shripur or 'city of auspiciousness', lies on the Mahanadi in Mahasamund district, 78 kilometres east of Raipur. Between the 5th and 12th centuries it flourished as a centre of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain life and the capital of the Sharabhapuriya and Panduvamshi kings of Dakshina Kosala. The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited in 639 and wrote of some 10,000 Buddhist monks in about 100 monasteries and over 100 temples. Why the city fell is unclear; an earthquake and an invasion have both been suggested.

Alexander Cunningham's visit in 1882 and his report on the Lakshmana temple, dated 595–605 and the earliest dated monument here, brought Sirpur to wide notice. Excavations since 1953, and especially after 2003, when 184 mounds were identified, have uncovered 22 Shiva temples, 5 Vishnu temples, Buddhist and Jain viharas, monolithic statues of the Buddha and Mahavira, and a 6th–7th century market and bath house. Buddhist, Jain and Hindu images and motifs mingle freely across the site.