Sanctum Sanctorum : Surprising it sounds, but sadly, the idol in the inner sanctum is missing and one can only imagine its beauty on the basis of the sculptures on the outer walls. There is a sort of shivalinga-peetha inside the sanctum which probably made Percy Brown to suggest that this was originally a Shiva temple. However the presence of a Vishnu image in the centre of the door lintel clearly holds the Vaishnava character of the temple which is also unanimously agreed upon by Cunningham, Mukerji, Vats and others. 

Sculpted panels found during excavations : Remains of several sculpted panels which were originally used to decorate the faces of the plinth and numbered about 80 as mentioned by Cunningham, were found during the excavation carried out under Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni in 1917-18. It included a unique sculpture, now housed at the National Museum in New Delhi, depicting Devaki handing over her new-born son Krishna to her husband Vasudeva, which is said to be one of the best depictions of Gupta period art, based on the sensuous and graceful modelling of the figurines.

Panels were found to depict Vishnu stories from the Puranas, Ramayana and Mahabharat including those of Ahalya’s redemption, Rama going to exile with Sita and Lakshmana, their visit to Atri’s hermitage, Lakshmana mutilating Suparnakha, Ravana abducting Sita etc are seen over ten such Ramayana panels found here. Krishna’s birth, Nanda and Yashoda fondling their kids, Krishna hurling a cart, Krishna holding hair of Kamsa are few stories seen related to Krishna in eight panels, and others. At present, there is no such panel in situ except the two pieces on the left of the stairway leading to the main doorway, and most of the excavated panels are now exhibited in the National Museum at New Delhi or the local site museum.

To be continued....