Orissa Tourism

The great Lingaraja (eleventh century), which soars above the city of Bhubaneswar and dominates the landscape as far as 15 kms away, represents Orissan temple architecture at its most mature and fully developed stage. It has, in fact, been described as 'time quintessence of Orissan architecture'. The deul (tower) of the Lingaraja reaches a height of just over 180 feet (55 meters). It is completely curvilinear, and the extraordinary soaring tower can be seen to incorporate miniature replicas of itself, in turrets inserted on the ribs of the spire.

By the time the Lingaraja temple was constructed, the Jagannath cult had become predominant throughout Orissa. This is reflected in the fact that the temple deity here, the Svayambhu linga, is not, as in all other cases, strictly a Shiva linga. It is considered to be a 'hari-hara' linga, that is, half Shiva, half Vishnu.

There are 150 subsidiary shrines within the immense Lingaraja complex, many of them extremely interesting in their own right. Unfortunately, they cannot be visited by non-Hindus.


Places to see : Lingaraja Temple, Mukteswara Temple, Brahmeshwar Temple, Rajarani Temple, Vaital Temple, Khandagiri and Udaygiri Caves

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Places to Visit in Orissa

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