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Mattan, Anantnag, Jammu & Kashmir · 33.7458°, 75.2199°
The grandest ruin of ancient Kashmir: Lalitaditya's colonnaded sun temple on a plateau over the Valley, blending Gandharan, Gupta and even Hellenistic-echoing forms into the unique Kashmiri style. Systematically demolished by Sultan Sikandar Shah Miri around 1400, its broken peristyle of 84 columns remains among the subcontinent's most haunting sights.
Martanda is the eighth, still-born Aditya cast off and reshaped as the sun; Kashmiri tradition set his great shrine here above the springs of Mattan, where pilgrims still feed sacred fish and offer shraddha.
The ruined temple stands on the plateau above Mattan, which the district administration places a little over five miles from Anantnag town. The nearest airport is Srinagar International, about 50 km away; the same source names Jammu Tawi as the nearest railway station, six to eight hours off by road depending on conditions. Anantnag itself is reached by direct bus or hired taxi from Srinagar or Jammu.
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-26 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Karkota