Bhubaneswar the capital of Odisha is a city of temples. Not only
from a religious point of view, several of these temples are important from an
architectural standpoint. The Lingaraja or Lingaraj temple - the largest of
these is a highly revered Shiva temple and it is an outstanding specimen of the
Orissa/Odisha style of temple building. It is over a thousand years old. Bhubaneswar,
Konark and Puri; the three temple towns constitute the Golden triangle of
Orissa. We are extremely happy to have visited these three significant, ancient
and historic places of pilgrimage, very recently.
Bhubaneswar is a highly revered pilgrimage centre since ancient
times. The Bramha Purana refers to Bhubaneswar as the Ekamra Kshetra enshrining
countless Shivalingas. More than 400 temples, dated between the 7th and 13th
centuries, remain here today out of the 7,000 that are once said to have dotted
the city. The total number of temples included in this area at one time, as
recorded in the hyperbolic language of Ekamra Purana, was a hundred thousand
while the Shivalingas numbered ten million (one crore)!
The extant temples were built largely by rulers of the
Shailobhava, Bhaumakara, Somavamshi and Ganga dynasties. The overwhelming
sanctity of the region led the rulers, driven by the hope of eternal blessings,
to vie with one another in building temples of all dimensions.
The Lingaraja temple is said to have been built first by the
ruler Yayati Kesari in the 7th century who shifted his capital from Jaipur to Bhubaneswar.
Bhubaneswar remained as the Kesari capital, till Nripati Kesari founded Cuttack
in the 10th century. According to an inscription on the wall of jagamohana, Lingaraja
temple is dated to the 11th century, to the reign of the Ganga king,
Anantavarman Chodaganga.
Lingaraja temple was originally known as Krittivasas and from
the very beginning, it has been the most revered temple in Bhubaneswar. The
crowning glory of the temple is its 55 metre (180 feet) tall great tower or
shikara of the deul that dominates not just the temple but also the town of Bhubaneswar.
‘In the elegance of its proportions and sculptural richness, it is one of the
most finished and refined manifestations of temple architecture in India’. The main temple consists of four structures,
all in the same axial alignment, viz., deul or Sri Mandir or Vimana,
jagamohana or the Hall (Mandapa), nata mandira or the Dancing Hall,
and bhoga mandapa or bhoga mandira or the Hall of offerings. And
surrounding the main temple are many minor temples in its vast courtyard
covering over 2,50,000 square feet. The Shivalingam in the sanctum of the
Lingaraja temple rises to a height of 8 inches above the floor level, and is 8
feet in diameter!
Legend has it that Shiva revealed to Parvati that Bhubaneswar -
or Ekamra Thirtha was a resort favoured by him over Banaras. Parvati in the
guise of a cowherd woman decided to look at the city herself. Two demons
Kritti and Vasa desired to marry her. She requested them to carry her upon
their shoulders and crushed them under her weight. Shiva, then created the
Bindu Saras Lake to quench her thirst and took abode here as Krittivasas or
Lingaraja. The vast Bindu Sagar Lake is the centre around which are located the
multitude of temples of Bhubaneswar. It
is believed that a Hindu pilgrimage to Bhubaneswar must begin with a dip in its
sacred waters followed by the worship of Lingaraja, to attain moksha or
liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth.
A total of 22 worship services are offered here each day and
there are several annual rituals. Once a year, an image of Lingaraja is taken
to the Jalamandir in the centre of the Bindu Sagar Lake. Every day over
6,000 pilgrims visit the temple and on special occasions, it is in several
thousands and on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri it touches 2 lakhs!
Good information and photography.
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