PARVATI TEMPLE
Location : Near Lingaraja Temple, Bhubaneswar, Orissa
Architectural Style : Orissan Temple Architecture
Presiding Deity : Goddess Parvati

Of the many secondary sanctuaries in the courtyard, the temple of Parvati is a
fine architectural piece, remarkable for the exuberance of its carvings, but
overshadowed by the 'Lingaraja' temple itself.

The Four Components
Like the Lingaraja temple, it is composed of four components, all disposed on
the same axis. In the decorative elements, however, especially on the 'Bada' of
the 'Deul' and 'Jagamohana', it differs from its larger counterpart.

Built on a platform of three carved mouldings with a narrow ledge around the
base of the deul, the deul has three divisions in its 'Bada', of which the
'Pabhaga' consists of five mouldings. The decorative arrangement of the
'Jangha' faintly recalls that of the Muktesvara temple.

The facets of the corner 'Rathas' are treated with minute scroll - work,
arabesque and 'Jali', the central facets being further distinguished by female
figures or couples. The intermediary 'Ratha' is made in the likeness of an
elongated 'Khakhara' flanked by a 'Naga-Pilaster' on a 'Vidala'.

The central projections, originally containing in their niches the images of
the 'Parsva-Devatas', of whom only Parvati is existing now, are shaped like
'Khakhara' shrines with a pilaster crowned by a 'Khakhara-Mundi' on either
side. The 'Varanda' is a projected moulding crowned by a recessed 'Kanthi'
relieved with 'Jali'.

The Jagmohana
The 'Bada' of the 'Jagamohana' is equally well - finished and resembles that of
the 'deul' in ornamentation. Of the two balustraded windows, the one on the
south has been turned into a door, most probably at the time of the addition of
the 'Nata-Mandira' and 'Bhoga-Mandapa', which as in the Lingaraja temple, are
later than the main units. The pyramidal roof, made of eleven 'Pidhas' in two
tiers of six and five each, is crowned by the usual finials.

A Resemblence With Lingaraja Temple
The temple, structurally and stylistically, is definitely later than the
Lingaraja temple, its later limit furnished by a small inscription, engraved on
the plinth near the south door of the 'Jagamohana', in characters of the latter
part of the 13th century.

The object of the record is the gift of two earthen pots ('Atika') filled with
cakes as a daily offering to the goddess 'Uma' in the 13th regional year of
King 'Bhanudeva', a custom surviving even now. If this ruler was identical with
the first 'Ganga' king of that name (A.D. 1264-79), the temple was already in
existence in A.D. 1274.