European and other foreign notices of Odisha (old Orissa) are known since 1632. William Bruton visited Cuttack, in 1632, with his companions, led by Ralph Cartwright. In 1633, he paid an official visit to the Jagannath Puri temple, which he…
Sisupalgarh – An Early Historical City of Odisha
Sisupalgarh is situated in vicinity of Bhubaneswar and is famous for its early historic period fortified city covering an area of around 1.2 km2. This pre-Christian era fort is in shape of a rough square. The name, Sisupalgarh, immediately warrants…
Dhauli – Thus Spoke Ashoka
Dhauli Hill or Dhauligiri is located on the left banks of river Daya, a tributary of Mahanadi, and situated about 10 km from Bhubaneswar. It is believed to be the location of the famous Kalinga war, where the banks of…
Bakreswar Temple – An Expansional Experiment
Bakreswar Temple is situated near Bharati Matha in Bhubaneswar. This east facing temple stands on a low pitha (platform) and consisted of a deul and jagamohana. Deul is consisted of bada, gandi and mastaka. Bada is constructed in saptha-ratha pattern…
Makareswar Temple – Decadence of Artistic Tradition
Located at the corner of Badhei Banka Chowk, Bhubaneswar, Makareswar Temple lies in close vicinity of Papanasini Tank. Like other late Ganga period temples, this temple also depicts a very simple appearance with its external facade being devoid of any…
Mitresvara Temple Complex
This temple complex has two temples belonging to the late Eastern Ganga period of 14th century CE. The temples of this period lack decoration and ornamentation resulting in a rather bald appearance in comparison of their counterparts from earlier periods.…
Chitrakarini Temple – Temple of a Paintress
Chitrakarini temple, like Brahmesvara temple, is a panchayatana (quincunx) temple where the main temple stands in the center facing east and a subsidiary shrine is placed at each corner. The overall complex is enclosed within a laterite wall. The central…
Sari and Suka Temple
Sari and Suka temples are situated in the same walled compound. Earlier Sari temple was under the protection of ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) and Suka temple was with the Orissa State Archaeology Department. ASI conducted excavations around Sari temple…
Yameswara Temple – Here Lingaraja Begs Forgiveness from Yama
Many Indian philosophy texts advocate that an individual suffers in his life as per his sins, in the present and the past life. Shweder1 writes, “Oriyas believe that, in the long run, nature punishes vice and rewards virtue.” Thus…
Mamallapuram – Sthalapuranas
Mamallapuram – The Workshop of the Pallavas Sthalapuranas We find two versions of sthalapuranas, version 1 is found in the Mackenzie collection (manuscript book no. 33, CM 787, section 9) and published in the Madras Journal of Literature and Science…