Lingaraj Temple
This
most magnificent monument is also the loftiest. It
dates back to the 11th century and
represents the mature and complex 'Nagara' style of
Orissan temple architecture. Its tower, dominating
the surroundings, is visible from miles around. The
temple, set in a huge walled compound measuring 520
feet by 465 feet, originally consisted only of the
sanctum and the mandap or the entrance hall. The
dancing hall and the hall of offerings are later
additions. Around the main shrine there are many
smaller votive shrines. The outer walls of the
temple are lavishly decorated with beautiful
sculptures which mark a climax of Hindu decorative
architecture. Birds, beasts, creepers, flowers, men
and women in erotic poses and postures, a host of
gods and goddesses all are there in their full
majesty and grandeur. The inner walls of the shrine,
containing the phallus symbol of Shiva, are plain
and without any embellishment. Just north of this
temple is the sacred lake of Bindu Sagar with a tiny
island in the centre, where there are many lesser
shrines. Here, once in a year, Lingaraj himself is
brought for ritual ablutions.
These temples epitomize a comprehensive history of the Orissan style of temple architecture from its very inception to perfection spreading almost to two thousand years from 3rd century B. C. to 16th Century A. D. These magnificent monuments dominating the city skyline, are within a reasonable walking distance from one another. The 46 metre high Lingaraj Temple marks the culmination of temple tradition of Bhubaneswar.
The Decorations
The plastic embellishment of the temple is of
equally exquisite workmanship. All the panoply of
Orissan decorative motifs is mustered here with a
rare aesthetic sense; every piece of carvings serves
its appointed role and enhances the majesty of the
edifice as a whole. With all the features fully
evolved, it is the culmination, in every respect, of
the architectural movement at
Bhubaneswar and sets the norm for the later
temples.
A Traditional Connection
Traditionally, the construction of the temple is
associated with three of the later 'Somavamsi' kings
with names ending in 'Kesari' but there is no
reliable record of its date.
However, an inscription on the wall of the 'Jagamohana',
recording the grant of a village for the maintenance
of a perpetual lamp in the shrine of 'Krittivasas',
by which name the temple was anciently known, and
dated A.D. 1114-15 in the reign of the 'Ganga' king
'Anantavarman Chodaganga', sets the later limit of
the date of the temple.
The temple is a combination of four structures, all
in the same axial alignment - 'Deul', 'Gahamohana',
'Nata-Mandira' and 'Bhoga-Mandapa', the last two
being subsequent additions. The spacious courtyard
is full of shrines, big and small, of varying dates,
their number exceeding a hundred, of which only a
few are of outstanding merit. The complex is
enclosed by a massive compound-wall pierced by an
imposing portal on the east and two secondary gates
on the north and south.
The Jagmohana
The 'Jagamohana' is equally monumental and closely
follows the 'deul' in decorative details. The 'Jagamohana'
originally had two balustraded windows, of which the
one on the south side was converted into a door at a
later date, perhaps when the 'Nata-Mandira' or 'Bhoga-Mandapa'
was built. The topmost part of the 'Bada' above them
is relieved with three 'Rekha' replicas spaced by
either a male or a female figure.
The Temple Deity
By the time the Lingaraja temple was constructed,
the Jagannatha 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. This and the variety of deities
represented elsewhere on the temple, once again
point out the basically syncretic nature of so much
of Orissan religion.
There are 150 subsidiary shrines within the immense
Lingaraja complex, many of them extremely
interesting in their own right, but non-Hindus
cannot visit them.
MINOR 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.