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...
History or Legend? Sometimes it is difficult to choose the right word. Here, I chose to use the word ‘Legend’, as I have not been able to verify the authenticity of the stories I heard from an old man living in the Kumbhalgarh Fort. He told us that he was a native of Kumbhalgarh, and had also worked for the Archaeological department in the fort, lending a touch of credibility to the story he told us. I must admit, that though we have fallen into the habit of taking in stories with a pinch of salt, there was an air of truth about this man. A Miniature of Rana Kumbha from Chittorgarh To begin with the origin of the fort , it is indeed a fact that the original fort here was ruled by the Jain king Samprati, who built around 300 Jain temples inside the fort. After him, the fort remained unused, and fell to ruins, except the temples, which survived to tell their story. Rana Kumbha came here to build a fort so that he could defend Mewar against the Mughals who were regularly attacking C...