Saiva · Khordha, Odisha
Lingaraj Temple, Bhubaneswar
Lingaraj as Hari-Hara, Siva and Vishnu in one linga
General
The temple in short
- Deity
- Lingaraj as Hari-Hara, Siva and Vishnu in one linga
- Where
- Khordha, Odisha · 20.24N 85.83E
- Usual hours
- 5 am – 1 pm, 4 pm – 9 pm — hours change with festivals and the season; check before travelling. Were these right when you went?
- Grahas
- Guru
- Visited for
- The great temple of Ekamra kshetra, with the Bindu Sagar tank. Shivaratri and the Ashokashtami car festival are its days.
The sthala purana
Tradition, as it is told at the temple
The sthala purana has it that Parvathi came here and killed two demons, Kirti and Vasa, and that afterwards she was thirsty. Sivan is said to have struck the ground and brought up the water that became the Bindu Sagar, into which every sacred river is held to have sent a drop.
The linga here is worshipped as Hari-Hara — Sivan and Vishnu in one — and both bilva leaves and tulasi are offered to it, which is unusual and is the mark of the place.
What is recorded
Documented history
Lingaraj is an eleventh-century Somavamsi building and the largest temple in Bhubaneswar. It shows the Kalinga plan at its most complete: the deul with its curved tower, the jagamohan, the natamandira and the bhogamandapa in a line.
Non-Hindus are not admitted. A raised viewing platform outside the northern wall was built so that the temple can at least be seen from there.
What there is to see
Description
The tower is tall and heavily ribbed, and the carving on the outer walls runs the full height.
The linga inside is a large uncut block of granite set in the floor rather than a shaped shaft.
The Bindu Sagar tank lies to the north, with smaller temples around it, and the whole old quarter of Bhubaneswar is full of Kalinga-period shrines within a short walk.
The temple year
The days it is fullest
Shivaratri, kept here as Jagara with a night-long vigil, is the largest day.
The Ashokashtami car festival in Chaitra, when the deity is taken to the Rameswar temple on the Rukuna Rath, and the Chandan Yatra are the other festivals.
Getting there, and what else it is called
- Also called
- Lingaraj Mandir, Ekamra Kshetra, Bhubaneswar
- Period
- Eleventh century, Somavamsi period, in the Kalinga style
- Reaching it
- The temple is in the old town of Bhubaneswar, about 4 km from Bhubaneswar railway station and a short ride from the airport.
Where it is
Others within reach
Nearest first, by straight-line distance
Add what you know
Been to this temple? The things that change — whether the hours on this page were right, whether the sannidhi was open, how long the queue was on a Saturday — are exactly what no printed source keeps current, and what the next person travelling here needs.
- Were the hours right when you went?
- Is anything on this page wrong or out of date?
- A photograph of the gopuram, the tank, or the notice board
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Parihaaram is traditional practice, offered for devotion and peace of mind; it is not a guaranteed cure of any condition. Temple hours change with festivals and the season, so check before travelling.