The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.
Mandu, Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh · 22.3270°, 75.3901°
A Shiva temple at Mandu raised over an older shrine between April 1574 and April 1575 by Shah Badgah, Akbar's governor of Mandu, and commissioned by the emperor for his Hindu consort Mariam-uz-Zamani. Built to serve as both palace and temple, it is now used purely as a temple and draws pilgrims from across India.
What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.
The name Neelkanth, the blue-throated one, is traced to Shiva swallowing the Halahala poison churned from the ocean, which stained his throat blue.
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-28 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Mughal
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