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FACTS
& FIGURES
Built in :
11th Century AD
Built by :
Location : Bhubaneshwar
Lingaraja Temple
The Lingaraja temple dominates the skyline of Bhubaneshwar from as far away as 15-kms and exhibits the skill of the Orissan temple architects at its completely mature and developed stage. This temple was constructed in the 11th Century AD at the site of an old 7th Century Shrine. Along with the 'deul' and the 'Jagmohana' the Lingaraja temple has two new structures, the 'Nata Mandira' (dance hall) and the ' Bhoga Mandapa' (offering hall). Dedicated to Lord Shiva the 'Lingam' here is unique in that it is a 'Hari Hara' lingam - half Siva and Half Vishnu. There are around 150 subsidiary shrines within this giant temple.
SHRINES IN THE COMPOUND OF LINGARAJA
Amidst the group of subsidiary shrines clustering round the great temple, two, one, on the north of the 'Jagamohana', known as "Gopalini" or "Bhuvanesvari" and the other, on the south of the 'Deul', known as "Savitri", are of the "Khakhara" order. The 'Parsva-Devatas' in them are different forms of 'Parvati'.
In some of the other subsidiary shrines can be seen a number of images of different dates, mostly of 'Parvati', 'Karttikeya', 'Ganesa' and 'Surya' and rarely of 'Balarama', 'Subhadra', 'Krishna' and 'Trivikrama'.
Many of them found their way into these shrines after the decay or destruction of the temples, to which they had originally belonged. Particularly noticeable is an early image of 'Parvati', housed in a tiny shrine to the northeast of the Lingaraja temple.
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