Lingaraja Temple

Highlights

• Lingaraja Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva and is one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneswar, the capital of the Indian state of Odisha, India.
• The temple is the most prominent landmark of Bhubaneswar city and one of the major tourist attractions of the state.
• Shiva's consort and the temple's presiding Goddess, Parvati, is referred to as Annapurna or Girija.
• The Lingaraja temple is the largest temple in Bhubaneswar.
• The central tower of the temple is 180 ft (55 m) tall.

Religious Significance

Bhubaneswar is called the Ekamra Kshetra as the deity of Lingaraja was originally under a mango tree (Ekamra). Ekamra Purana, a Sanskrit treatise of the 13th century mentions that the presiding deity was not seen as lingam (an aniconic form of Shiva) during the Satya and Treta yugas and only during the Dvapara and Kali yugas, it emerged as a lingam. The lingam in the temple is a natural unshaped stone that rests on a Sakti. Such a lingam is called Krutibasa or Swayambhu and is found in 64 places in different parts of India.

Dress Code

Modest, respectful clothing is expected at this site.

Festivals

• •As per Hindu legend, an underground river originating from the Lingaraja temple fills the Bindusagar Tank (meaning ocean drop) and the water is believed to heal physical and spiritual illness.
• •The water from the tank is thus treated sacred and pilgrims take a holy dip during festive occasions.
• •The central deity of the temple, Lingaraja, is worshipped as Shiva.

History

• •The temple in its present form dates back to the last decade of the eleventh century.
• •There is evidence that part of the temple was built during the sixth century CE as mentioned in some of the seventh century Sanskrit texts.
• •Fergusson believes that the temple might have been initiated by Lalat Indu Keshari who reigned from 615 to 657 CE.
• •The Assembly hall (jagamohana), sanctum and temple tower were built during the eleventh century, while the Hall of offering (bhoga-mandapa) was built during the twelfth century.

Architecture

• •The Lingaraja temple is the largest temple in Bhubaneswar.
• •James Fergusson (1808–86), a noted critic and historian rated the temple as "one of the finest examples of purely Hindu temple in India".
• •It is enshrined within a spacious compound wall of laterite measuring 520 ft (160 m) by 465 ft (142 m).
• •The wall is 7.5 ft (2.3 m) thick and surmounted by a plain slant coping.

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