In the history of Kashmir, the Utpala dynasty holds a special place. The founder of the Utpala dynasty was Avantivarman who ruled from AD 855 to 883. During the concluding years of the Karkota dynasty, the country towards the south of the Panjal range had thrown off its allegiance to the Kashmir throne, and small independent principalities had sprung up at Rajauri and other places. The kingdom of Kashmir was restricted to its natural boundaries, extending only to four marches below Baramula. Avantivarman wisely refrained from undertaking foreign conquest, and bestowed his whole attention on the internal consolidation and development of the country which had greatly suffered – economically and politically – from the disorders of the preceding reigns, from the feuds of powerful barons and the rapacious administration of the Kayasthas or clerks.
The country had been liable to heavy floods and famines. The Kashmir valley was in a water-logged condition. Cultivation was poor. Avantivarman’s able engineer, Surya, undertook to drain the Valley. He saw, as have modern engineers in our own day, that floods in the Valley were due to the fact that the passage of the Jhelum through the Baramula gorge had been blocked by silt and boulders brought down into it from a neighbouring nullah or stream. This obstruction was removed by Suyya, and the result was a large increase of land available for cultivation and increased protection against floods. He then carried out other extensive drainage and irrigation works under the orders of the King ; and it is no wonder that the native historians exults over the economic prosperity of the land which was the direct result of these engineering schemes. The New towns and irrigation works were constructed. One of these towns was Suyyapura (modern Sopor), called after his engineer Suyya who gave a further impetus to the agriculture of Kashmir by draining marshes and protecting the fields against the deluge of avalanches. It was founded by him at the point where the Jhelum leaves the Wular lake. The memory of the King is also preserved to this day in the village of Avantipura (Vantipor) which lies one march above Srinagar. Avantivarman founded a new city Avantipur. It is situated at a distance of 18 miles from Srinagar.
The ruins of the ancient temples at Avantipura are, according to the Stein, among the most imposing monuments of ancient Kashmiri architecture and sufficiently testify to the resources of the builder. Of the two temples dedicated to Vishnu and Shiva respectively- Avanti Swamin and Avantisvara – the first was built before his accession and the second subsequently by Avantivarman.
Avanti Swamin temple was built by Avantivarman in around 855 CE. Kalhana’s Rajatarangini tells us it was just 
before his accession to throne and also mentions that this was this fortress like temple in which royal officers of King Jayasimha (1128-1154 A.D.) successfully survived a siege by Damaras (feudal barons of ancient Kashmir), an event that must have occurred during Kalhana’s time. Before the excavation, some of the observers had assumed that the temple was dedicated to Shiva (Baron Hugel without much evidence actually thought it was a Buddhist temple) . But once the base of the temple was excavated, Avanti Swamin temple was found to be devoted to Vishnu. Avantivarman did built a Shiva temple which is nearby and is now known as Avantisvara Temple.
According to Sahni, “To his right and left are Satyavama and Sri.
The emblems in the right hands of Vishnu are a mace (dada), a garland and an ear of corn (manjari). The uppermost left hand has a bow (pin aka, and the lower most a lotus bud. the middle hand rests on the left great of the goddess on that side. In front of the seat on which Vishnu sits are three birds, apparently parrots. The tilaka on the foreground of the central figure is a circular dot. Those on the foreheads of the goddesses are dots enclosed in crescents. The panel is enclosed in square-pilasters of quasi-Greek type, surmounted with a multi foil arch with a goose in each spandril.”
The medieval development of Brahmanical architecture in Kashmir is represented by two golden periods, or, to be more precise, rose to its greatest heights under two prominent building rulers, Lalitaditya who brought the style into being in the middle of the eight century and Avantivarman under whom it attained its most refined form in the latter half of the ninth century.
The reign of Avantivarman also witnesses a remarkable revival of Sanskrit learning in Kashmir. Sivasvamin was one of the gems of Avantivarman’s court. Some of the others were : (i) Ratnakara, who wrote the Haravijaya in fifty cantos and lived under two kings, viz, Jayapida and Avantivarman; (ii) Anandavardhana, the author of Dhvanyaloka (iii) Kallata, the great pupil of Vasugupta, the originator of the Spandasastra division of Kashmir. Sivasvamin is credited with the authorship of seven Mahakavyas, several dramas, prose works and other writings. Sivasvamin’s work “assumes an importance in the history of Sanskrit literature in general and the literary history of Kashmir in particular, in as much as it helps to show the development of Kavya in Kashmir and the influence of Ratnakara on his contemporaries.” Its theme is neither Pauranic, nor epic, nor historical, but it deals with the Buddhistic legend of King Kapphina, one of the twelve great disciples of the Buddha.
Reference:
Sufi,G.M.D (1996). Kashmir Under The Mughals. Kashir: Being A History Of Kashmir(pp.55-57) Delhi:Capital Publishing House.
