Bhojpur, Madhya Pradesh
| Bhojpur | |
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| town | |
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 Bhojpur
 Bhojpur
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| Coordinates: 23°6′54″N 77°35′43″E / 23.11500°N 77.59528°ECoordinates: 23°6′54″N 77°35′43″E / 23.11500°N 77.59528°E | |
| Country | India |
| State | Madhya Pradesh |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Hindi |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| ISO 3166 code | IN-MP |
| Vehicle registration | MP |
Bhojpur is a town of historical and religious importance in Raisen District of Madhya Pradesh, India.
Bhojpur is situated on the Betwā River, 28 km from Bhopal, the state capital of Madhya Pradesh. The site is located on sandstone ridges typical of central India, next to a deep gorge through which the Betwā River flows. Two large dams, constructed of massive hammer-dressed stones, were built in the eleventh century to divert and block the Betwā, so creating a large lake. The approximate size of the lake is shown in the site plan given here.
Bhojpur takes its name from king Bhoja (reg. c. 1000–1055 CE), the most celebrated ruler of the Paramāra dynasty. There is no archaeological evidence from Bhojpur before the eleventh century, a fact confirmed by local legends which recount how Bhoja made a vow to build a series of dams "to arrest the streams of nine rivers and ninety-nine rivulets". A location was found in the kingdom that allowed the king to fulfil this vow and the dams were duly built at Bhojpur.
Although the dams were constructed of cyclopean masonry, one of them was opened on the orders of Hoshang Shah of Malwa in the fifteenth century. According to Persian chronicles, he ordered the dam to be broken at the request of local merchants in Bhopal and Vidisha whose caravans were being raided by bandits taking refuge at an inaccessible spot protected by the lake.
Bhojpur also has an unfinished Jain temple containing a 6-meter-tall statue of Bhagwan Shantinath and two statues of Bhagwan Parshvanath (left) and Bhagwan Suparshvanatha (right). On the base of the central images of Lord Shatinath there is an inscription mentioning king Bhoja, the only epigraphic evidence connecting Bhoja to the site. The Suparshanath image on left has an inscription date samvat 1157 which mentions Naravarman, the nephew of king Bhoja, and mentions that the two smaller idols were installed by the grandson of Nemichandra of Vemaka community, who had installed the main image in the middleThe same temple complex hosts shrine for Ācārya Manatunga who wrote Bhaktamara Stotra.
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