Temples of Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar is often called the Temple City of India, and rightly so.

What makes the city particularly interesting is not merely the number of temples. Walk through its old quarters and you can almost trace the development of Kalinga temple architecture across several centuries.

Small and relatively simple shrines gradually gave way to increasingly elaborate structures. Different forms of the deul, the curving tower above the sanctum, the jagamohana or assembly hall, sculptural programmes, gateways and architectural details evolved over time. Temples such as Mukteshwar, Rajarani and the massive Lingaraj Temple allow us to see different stages of that development.

This was a subject I had the opportunity to explore in considerable detail for the Tamil Heritage Trust, Chennai.

I delivered a talk of nearly two hours on the Temples of Bhubaneswar. I began with the history of the city and an introduction to Kalinga architecture before moving on to individual temples, their architecture, sculptures and distinctive features.

The talk was accompanied by a 69-slide presentation, with photographs helping explain architectural elements that are sometimes difficult to understand through words alone.

For anyone interested in Odisha's temples or wanting an introduction before visiting Bhubaneswar, both the presentation and the complete audio recording are available at the link below.

Temples of Bhubaneswar – Presentation and Audio

Listen to the talk and view the presentation

The more closely we look at Bhubaneswar's temples, the more interesting the city becomes.

It is not simply a collection of old temples.

It is almost a lesson in the evolution of Kalinga architecture, spread across an entire city.