Bhubaneshwar temple packages for captivating wealth of temple architecture
Bhubaneshwar temple package takes you deep into legendary skyline of Bhubaneswar, Orissa India dotted with some of the most creative architectural splendors of Golden Triangle of temple tours bhubaneshwar. Find here the most mature state of Indian architecture reflected in the Lingaraj Temple, Puri and Konark towering over the landscape of Bhubaneswar, Orissa India.
Bhubaneshwar is the capital of Orissa and situated 220 miles to the southwest of Calcutta. The city is well known for its temples and cathedral, especially the temples in the Orissa-style. Seven thousand temples, built between the 8th and 13th centuries used to surround the holy Bindusagar Lake in Old Bhubaneshwar. About five hundred of them still exist, of which most of them are lying in the state of ruins.
However, the temples like Lingaraja temple, Mukteswar temple and the Raja Rani temple are in any case worthseeing. Lingaraja temple, which is dedicated to Lord Shiva, is the largest amongst them. During February or March the most important Shivratri festival on the night of new moon is held and thousands of pilgrims flock here to worship Lord Shiva.
In the interior of the old town lies Bindu Sagar Lake, a holy pond and a pilgrimage site for Hindus. It is supposed to be connected underground with the Ganges River. The Lingaraj temple is about 900 years old and shows the formless aspect of Lord Shiva, i.e. Shiva’s phallus (Linga), symbol of male energy. Unfortunately, the access to this largest and most important of all temple is forbidden for non-Hindus. The temple area houses about 150 shrines and the highest temple tower is 170 feet high. Here visitors will clearly the differences between the local Orissa style (entrance halls and main shrine 'deul' with paramounting temple tower) and the south Indian Dravidian style of temples with Gopurams (soaring temple towers), like for example in Madurai and Trichy. Mukteswar temple is a small temple, but it is decorated with very beautiful stone works. In any case, one should look at it also from the inside. Just beside it, there is the Siddheswar temple with a very beautiful Ganesha image. A bit further stands the Parsurameshwar temple from the period of 7th century.
Puri, situated at the coast of Bay of Bengal to the south of Bhubeshwar, is considered to be one of the four holiest Hindu cities of India. Puri also offers, however, a lovely beach region with golden sunshine and blue waves. The most famous temple in Puri is Jagannath temple of the 12th century, which is dedicated to God Vishnu in the form of Lord Jagannath, the Lord of the world. Many travelers try to travel to Puri during July when one of the largest Indian festivals is celebrated--the world famous Rath Yatra or Car festival-during which the God statue is pulled on three large vehicle (Ratha) in a procession through the streets. During this procession, thousands of pilgrims gather in order to pay homage to the statue of the God in its massive wooden vehicle.
Dhauli Giri, four miles to the south of Bhubaneshwar, is famous for its rock edicts of the 3rd century BC. Vishwa Shanti Stupa or peace pagoda, built through the Indo-Japanese collaboration, is a peace symbol at the site where the great Kalinga War was fought between Emperor Ashoka and Kalinga (the old empire of Orissa). It has a large esthetic charisma.
Konark is a town at the gulf of Bengal in the Indian state Orissa, about 12 miles from Puri. It was nominated in 1984 by UNESCO for its world cultural heritage list. In a lovely bay lies the Sun Temple of Konark, also well known as a “Black Pagoda”. The Sun Temple, built in the middle of the 13th century, is the absolute culmination of the temple architecture of the old Orissa. The total concept of the architecture is astonishing. The original main building is not maintained. In addition, it is not sure whether it was ever completed fully. The part, well-maintained yet today was originally the entrance edifice. It shows the form of a vehicle of the Sun God, equipped with twelve wheels on both sides. The vehicle is pulled by seven pairs of exquisitely decorated horses. Each wheel means 14 days, and each horse represents a day of the week. The intact structure shows ornaments, sculptures and figures. The head entrance is guarded of two stone lions, which are each shown crushing a war elephant. All around in the temple, one finds many small figures of Gods, semi gods, humans and animals. Many of the human figures represent sexual actions. The beauty of this temple lies in the beautiful and natural cut of human and animal figures.
A collection of the sculptures of the temple, which were found during excavations, are exhibited in the sun temple museum, next to the temple compound. In December, each year, a festival of the classic Indian dance in Konark takes place. There are performances of Odissi, the traditional dance of Orissa.
The caves of Udayagiri and Khandagiri are situated on the outskirts of Bhubaneshwar on the two hills Udayagiri and Khandagiri. These caves date back to the 2nd century BC and have some beautiful carvings. Some of the caves served as Jain monasteries. Visit the Ananta cave with chiseled figures of athletes, women, elephant and flowers carrying geese. Also, visit the one of the largest and double-storied Queen’s Palace with beautiful carvings. From the tip of the hill, visitors have a gorgeous view of Bhubaneshwar.
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