• India
• State of Himāchal Pradesh
• Lāhul and Spiti (district)
• Lāhul
• Chandrabhaga Valley
• Triloknath
• Triloknath Temple

Triloknath Temple

As a popular pilgrimage center for both Hindus and Buddhists, the small temple complex of Triloknath tries to fulfill the demands of both religious groups and contains a wide courtyard, decorated with Śiva-symbols, a Nandi and lingaṃ shrine, as well as Buddhist prayer flags and a chapel with a huge prayer-wheel. The temple itself possesses a modern anteroom that leads to the old, original part of the monument, namely the sanctum with a square ground plan, of the Nāgara type with a rather massive śikhara and a richly decorated doorway. Several elements indicate the Buddhist origin of the temple probably before the tenth century CE.

Lit.: Verena Widorn & Gerald Kozicz (2012) The Temple of Triloknath – A Buddhist Nāgara Temple in Lahul, South Asian Studies, 28:1, 15-35.
DOI: 10.1080/02666030.2012.659897