Parasurameswara – The oldest temple of Bhubaneswar

With spectacular decorations, built during the 7th Century CE, “Parasurameswara” is the oldest Hindu temple at Bhubaneswar dedicated to Lord Shiva. We do not exactly know who got this magnificent edifice constructed but presume that this was got built during the reign of Eastern Ganga Dynasty. We did a great mistake. We could have gone through the literature available from different sources which would have enabled us to appreciate the Art thereat in the real perspective. This temple is reachable from the famous Mukteswara temple (we will cover it later) after crossing a small field shaded with large trees. While we were on our walk to cover the short distance, we felt like being welcomed  by a concert of Cuckoos (Koels) perched on those trees.

Surrounded by a compound wall the temple faces west and is adjacent to the road. A gate leads you to the temple from the road side and there is another entry from the South. It was intriguing to find that the Mandap/Pavilion  (Jagmohan) instead of being a stepped pyramid, is a rectangular structure with a terraced roof, sloping in two stages. In between the visors and the roof square ventilators have been provided.  The conical super structure (Tower) above the Sanctum Sanctorum (They call it Deol) is said to be 19 meters in the Triratha plan, a characteristic of that era. On its back and elsewhere Lakulisha is depicted in a meditative posture together with his disciples. This leads us to believe that during that period the Pashupat Cult was reigning.

This is the stupa (Chaitya)

The outer walls are decorated showing domesticated elephants controlling the wild ones, couples making love, Saptmatrikas and many other deities. The legends of the Shaiva cult has been shown vividly.

Lord Ganesha and Karthikeya are also present. Its quite possible that an attempt has been made showing lions seated over elephants to symbolise weakening of the Buddhist influence but holistically the art shown does not seem to have been totally freed from the Buddhist impact. A depiction of a Buddhist stupa (Chaitya) on the outer wall of the pavilion testifies to this end. Similarly portrayal of Lakulisha resembling  Buddha needs to be reckoned with.

The pillar at right is Sahsra Shiv Linga

In the temple complex on the left side we came across a pillar like thing. Though we saw it but did not pay any importance as such. It was only when my niece shouted “see what is here”, we went back and observed that it was also a Shiv Linga of about 4 feet height. There were several rows of miniature Lingas carved out, could be around a thousand like a multi storied tower. We were amazed at the pains the sculptor took. May be some day some one could take inspiration from that sculptural piece and build a gigantic tower and be the tallest of all such towers. Our photograph has not come out that clear still one could visualise.

While departing, we came across a small boy who was sleeping there. He got up hearing the noise we made. Though he did not beg for alms, his body language had some thing to suggest.

Resting while we were still in the temple

The official photographer for this trip was my niece "Gouri"