The Vaital temple is of the many intriguing temples in Bhubaneshwar. To begin with, the structure itself resembles a South-Indian temple more than the typical Kalingan style that we see everywhere else in Odisha. The temple has been dated to the last quarter of the 8 th century CE. Further , unlike most of the temples in Bhubaneshwar, this temple is not dedicated to Lord Shiva. Inside the sanctum is one of the deities who is very rarely seen in a sanctum – Chamunda, along with the Saptamatrikas. This is evidently a Shakta shrine. However, the presence of Lakulisha on the vimana indicates the connection with the Pasupata sect, which is most prevalent in this region during this time period. Further, the name of the temple – ‘Vaital’, comes from the word ‘ vetala’ , referring to spirits, which were invoked by tantrics to attain siddhis. Thus, this temple is an amalgamation of Pasupata and Shakta philosophy, with a strong emphasis on tantric rituals, and this is reflected in the iconogra...
Of all the temples dedicated to lord Shiva, the twelve Jyotirlingas are said to be the most important. These twelve temples are spread all over the country, and there is even a sloka which names them all. However, as with most things in India , the locations of some of these temples are controversial, with more than one temple claiming to be the original one. For example, there are two temples which claim to be the fifth Jyotirling – the Vaidyanath temple at Parli in Maharashtra , as well as the Baidyanath Dham temple in Jharkhand. However, the most controversial one is surely the eighth one – there are no less than 3 claimants to this temple – one is the temple of Nageshwar at Aundh in Maharashtra, the second is the temple of Nageshwar at Dwaraka, and the third is the temple of Jageshwar in Uttarakhand! The controversy arises from the fact that the temple is described in the scriptures as being located in the ‘Daruka Vanam’. This is translated as ‘Dwaraka’ as some, while other...