Bhubaneshwar is often called the city of temples . It is impossible to know exactly how many temples there are, but it has been estimated that there might be over 700 temples in the city. This number, while impressive, is just a fraction of the original number, which, sometime in the 13 th century, would have been about 7000. Wikipedia has a page dedicated to the Hindu temples of Bhubaneshwar , where 93 temples are listed. All these are ancient temples, built between the 7 th and 13 th centuries CE. Bhubaneshwar was once known as Ekamra Kshetra , the sacred mango grove. We know this name from an inscription at the Ananta Vasudeva temple, which mentions the name of the place, and the main temple (that we now know as the Lingaraja temple) in the mango grove. Ananta Vasudeva Temple, with a sculpture of Trivikrama in the niche It is extremely interesting to note that the Ananta Vasudeva temple is the only temple to Lord Vishnu in this city. Varaha, Ananta Vasudeva Temple Located v...
In the days gone by , the Shaivite saints used to walk from one temple to another, living on the temple premises, cleaning it up, performing the rituals, singing songs in praise of the Lord, and then move on to the next temple. This way, they managed to visit an astounding number of temples on foot. After visiting the temples in the Thanjavur – Kumbakonam belt, it seems to me that they were wise, for that is certainly the best, and maybe the only way one can see all the temples in the area. The city of Kumbakonam alone has about a hundred temples. One can then imagine the number of temples there are around the city. In fact, for every kilometer in any direction, one comes across at least one Shiva and one Vishnu temple. Every village seems to have a big temple, either dedicated to Vishnu or Shiva. While the Vaishnava temples are well maintained and seem prosperous, most of the Shiva temples, though built beautifully, are in disrepair, and lack funds. Many of them don’t even have enough...