[3] The town of Sirpur (aka Shirpur) has been mentioned in epigraphic and textual records dated to the 5th to the 8th centuries CE.

Sirpur, also referred to as Shripur and Sripura (literally, "city of auspiciousness, abundance, Lakshmi") in ancient Indian texts and inscriptions, is a village on the Mahanadi River 78 kilometres (48 mi) east of Raipur.

[4] In the second half of the 1st millennium CE, it was the capital city with major commercial and religious significance for the Dakshina Kosala kingdom.

[1] The Sharabhapuriya dynasty itself is dated to the late 5th century CE, but inscriptions mention its first capital to be Sharabhapura, as yet an unknown site.

Along with it, numerous other temples along the Mahanadi River stretching over 150 kilometres (93 mi) from Rajim to Kharod have been located and dated to between 600 and 710 CE.

Excavations in the region have yielded layers of deposits, traceable from the mid 1st millennium BCE, the Gupta Empire period, through the late medieval period with the youngest layer of deposits being ruins mixed with chilum (smoke pipe) and Sultanate era coins suggesting that Sirpur was an active human settlement at least through the early Delhi Sultanate.

[7] Sirpur became a major archaeological site after it was visited in 1882 by Alexander Cunningham, a colonial British India official.

[1] The site shows extensive syncretism, where Buddhist and Jain statues or motifs intermingle with Shiva, Vishnu and Devi temples.

The discovery of Khalji era coins mixed with the ruins during the excavation can be attributed to other reasons such as trade between Delhi Sultanate and Dakshina Kosala kingdom, and a spot caving in can be because of localized soil subsidence.

[10] There are striking similarities between the artwork in Sirpur and the Ellora Caves as well as Ratnagiri, according to Malandra, and this may suggest a flow of ideas and artists between the two regions.

Around the door are bands of carvings which show the ten avatars of Vishnu along with daily life and couples in various stages of courtship and mithuna.

[11] Immediately to the north of the Rama temple is an outline which local tradition states was also dedicated to Lakshmana as Rama-Lakshmana pair.

A stone slab that is part of the temple wall has a Bhramhi inscription in Nagari script, starting with Om symbol and dedicated to Lord Buddha, which has been dated to the 8th century.

Around the lake are ruins of an old fort, several Hindu and Buddhist monuments mixed in with farmlands and a modern era Krishna temple.

Sirpur has over 20 other excavated medieval temples and 50 additional unexcavated mounds spread over a three square kilometres area.

A stone inscription found at the site, in Sanskrit written in Nagari script and dated to mid 8th century CE uses a mix of Vedic meters (Anustubh, Sragdhara, Arya, Vasantatilaka and others).

The inscription states starts with auspicious symbol Om and Siddham, praises Sugata (Buddha) then lauds king Balarjuna.

It thereafter mentions monk Anandaprabha, devoted to the Buddha the Maravarin (enemy of Mara) and the destroyer of the cycle of rebirth and death.

The inscription says the king established a "vihara kuti" (monastery residences) and a free feeding house for all the monks there furnished with setike and vyanjana (rice meal with condiments) for "so long as the sun adorns the sky" (perpetuity).

The inscription poem thereafter reminds the monks to remember the spirit of the king's gift, the impermanence of wealth, that dharma is the only saving grace to suffering-filled worldly existence.