Category:Ranod Hindu monastery, Shivpuri district

Ranod Hindu monastery, Shivpuri district 

A 9th century Saiva Siddhanta matha, expanded in 10th and 11th centuries
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Instance of	monastery
Location	India
25° 05′ 10.5″ N, 77° 52′ 50.3″ E
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Ranod – sometimes spelled as Rannod or Narod – is a village in north Madhya Pradesh. The village is the famed site of the 9th-century Ranod monastery and temple ruins belonging to the Shiva tradition, more specifically the Mattamayūras school of Śaiva Siddhānta (Mattamayuras literally means “Drunken Peacocks”). The Rannod monastery is also called Khokhari matha. This site is about 25 kilometers north of Kadwaya, another hub of historic Hindu temples and monastery belonging to the same school. Both Ranod and Kadwaya monuments are ASI protected and managed sites.

Ronnod is a scenic, forested remote site about 60 kilometers southeast of Shivpuri city. Regional Sanskrit texts call it the Aranipadra Tapovana (lit. village of forested wilderness for ascetics). The monastery was built by the Shaiva scholar Purandara, with the support of the Hindu king Avantivarman. It was expanded in the 10th and 11th century by his students.

This historic Hindu matha consists of several double storey stone and brick structures with an elegant architecture. Shaded verandas allowed light and air to circulate throughout the complex of buildings. From the upper levels, one can see the trees and lush scenery around. The complex has its massive step tank and water management system. An inscription linked to the monastery describes the step tank and structural features. This poetic inscription in Sanskrit is dated to the 10th-century, thus confirming that these features were part of the original monastery. The monastery was conquered by Delhi Sultanate and later abandoned.

The Ranod monastery is significant because it is among the few pre-10th century Hindu monasteries that have survived into the modern age, even though Sanskrit texts mention numerous more in different parts of India. Ranod monastery provides a comparative benchmark for other Hindu stone monasteries and temples found nearby in Mahua, Indor, Terahi, Surwaya, Baktar, Kadwaya and Sakarra. Others in Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh, along with surviving Hindu matha ruins in Odisha, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh when compared to Ranod provide a better picture of the monastic and their role in education system in ancient and medieval India.