The temples are about northwest from Shimla, about north of Jalandhar and about east of Pathankot. The nearest railway station is Nagrota Surian, and the nearest airport is Dharamshala(IATA: DHM). The closest major airports with daily services are Amritsar and Jammu. The rock-cut temple is located in the valley, on the top of a naturally rocky hill, which Hargreaves in 1915 described as, "standing some 2,500 feet above sea level, and commanding, as they [Hindu temples] do, a magnificent view over a beautiful, well-watered and fertile tract, their situation, though remote, is singularly pleasing". According to Khan, the Hindu temples in Masrur show similarities to the Elephanta Caves near Mumbai (1,900 km away), Angkor Wat in Cambodia (4,000 km away), and the rock-cut temples of Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu (2,700 km away). The features also suggest the influence of "Gupta classicism", and therefore he places their construction in the 8th century. The area around the temple complex has caves and ruins which, states Khan, suggests that the Masrur region once had a large human settlement. According to Meister, the temples are from the first half of the 8th century based on the regional political and art history. The temples follow one version of the Nagara architecture, a style that developed in Central India, particularly during the rule of the Hindu king Yasovarman, an art patron. In Kashmir, a region immediately north and northwest of the site, Hindus built temples with square pyramidal towers by the mid 1st millennium CE, such as the numerous stone temples built by Hindu king Lalitaditya, another art patron. These kingdoms traditionally collaborated as well as competed in their construction projects rivalry, while the guilds of artists moved between the two regions, through the valleys of ancient Himachal Pradesh. The region is in the Himalayan terrain and forested, making conquests difficult and expensive. Historical records from the 6th to 12th centuries do not mention any military rivalries in the Beas river Kangra valley region. There is a mention of a Himalayan kingdom of Bharmour just north of Masrur area in early medieval era texts. The 12th-century text "Rajatarangini" as well as the 12th-century Kashmir chronicle by Kalhana, both mention political rivalries in the 9th century but these 11th and 12th century authors were too far removed in time from 8th century events, and they weave in so much ancient mythology that their semi-fictional texts are largely ahistorical and unreliable.