INFLUENCE OF TEMPLES IN DEVELOPMENT OF HISTORIC SETTLEMENTS IN ODISHA

Temple is a ‘Place of Worship’. It is also called the ‘House of God’. The temple is one of the prominent
and enduring symbols of Indian culture: it is the most graphic expression of religious fervour,
metaphysical values and aesthetic aspiration. The idea of temple originated centuries ago in the
universal ancient conception of God in a human form, which required a habitation, a shelter and this
requirement resulted in a structural shrine. India’s temple architecture is developed from the Sthapati’s
and Silpi’s creativity. A small Hindu temple consists of an inner sanctum, the Garbha Griha or womb
chamber; a small square room with completely plain walls having a single narrow doorway in the front,
inside which the image is housed and other chambers which are varied from region to region according
to the needs of the rituals.

Odisha possesses the most remarkable Northern temples. To a certain extent they represent a pure
form of the original Nagara style. They can be divided into two groups, namely the early form of Nagara
temples and the later evolution of the same in the fully developed Odishan type. Because of its unique
style it possesses a different temple style known as Kalingan School of Temple Architecture. This style
received due recognition when it was mentioned in the Silpa texts and the inscriptions.

The history of temple building activities in Odisha can be seen in a series of beautiful temples dating
from about the 6th century to the 16th century. The various ruling dynasties of Odisha from the
Sailodbhavas to the Gajapatis devoted themselves in erecting a number of religious shrines in their
kingdoms for sheer display of the aesthetic sensibilities, religious mindedness and glorification of their
reign. Bhubaneswar, the Temple City of India has a cluster of five hundred temples, ranging over a
period of nearly four centuries.

Case study of Ekamra Kshetra , Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar has a unique position among the cities of India. A temple town with series of ancient
sandstone temples, heritage ponds and water tanks, its wealth of monuments is testament to an ancient
continuous architectural and historical heritage covering over 2,000 years from the 3rd century BC to
the 15th century AD representing most of the important dynastic changes over the period.
Bhubaneswar is dubbed the “Temple City” – a name earned because of the 700 temples which once
stood here. It still boasts of a cluster of magnificent temples, constituting virtually a complete record of
Kalinga architecture almost from its nascence to its culmination. The Ekamra Kshetra comprises the
area of the old city of Bhubaneswar that forms the centre of this temple architecture and is considered a
Hindu holy city.

As per the Anantavasudeva Inscription of Paramarddi, Ekamra was a sacred area “...adorned with
hundreds of mango-groves, wherein exists a single Devakula [temple] surrounded by numerous
temples.” As per Ekamra Purana, a 13th-century Sanskrit treatise, it is believed that this
sacred kshetra was a Panchakrosa (10 miles) in circumference bordered by Khandagiri hills in the west,
Kundalesvara temple in the east, Balhadevi Temple on the north and Bahirangesvara temple near Dhauli
on the south, with Lingaraj Temple as its centre. It is also described that there was an inner circle to
this Kshetra bound by Meghesvara temple in the east and Sundaresvara temple in the south. Ekamra
Kshetra comprised of 45 villages and was divided into asta-ayatana or eight sacred precincts, each
with its water body, temples, small shrines, tirthas and prescribed pilgrim/ritual procession routes that
are ritualistically and symbolically connected to the Lingaraj Temple.
Although Lingaraj Temple was the centre of Ekamra Kshetra, the old town of Bhubaneswar itself was
focused towards the Bindusagar Tank in the near vicinity of Lingaraj Temple. A geomantic approach was
adopted in town planning with specific directions vis-à-vis topography, location and orientation of water
bodies, landuse zoning et al. The town structure was a not-so-geometric but organic derivative of
the Mandala concept. The tanks such as Bindusagar, Devipadahara Tank, Kapilesvara Tank were
attached with religious symbolisms and considered holy.
This temple town contains scores of ancient stone temple which vary in size from the gigantic structures
like the great Lingaraja, 128 feet high, to the miniatures of a few feet set up in waysides or along the
banks of the ancient tanks. The area, in which the ruined or living monuments are scattered, extends
over 10 miles and are testimony to Bhubaneswar’s continued occupation throughout the ages.