The Indian temples are broadly divided into Nagara, Vesara,

Dravida and Gadag styles of architecture. However, the temple

architecture of Odisha corresponds to altogether a different
category for their unique representations called Kalinga style of
temple architecture. This style broadly comes under the Nagara
style.
In Kalinga Architecture, basically, a temple is made in two
parts, a tower, and a hall. The tower is called deul and the hall is
called Jagmohan. The walls of both the deul and the Jagmohan
are lavishly sculpted with architectural motifs and a profusion of
figures. The most repeated form is the horseshoe shape, which
has come from the earliest times, starting with the large
windows of the chaitya-grihas. It is the deul or delua which
makes three distinct types of temples in Kalinga Architecture.
The generic name of the Odisha temples is deul, which has in its
front a square building or assembly hall called jagamohan,
which corresponds to the mandapa. These two edifices combine
to form the essentials of an Odishan temple. Later other
structures like the Nat-Mandir or Dancing Hall and Bhog
Mandir or Hall of Offerings were added to the temple structure.
The lower and the upright portion of the deul is called the bada,
the tall middle portion is called chhapra, the flat fluted disc at
the summit is called amla and its finial is called kalasa. The
Orissan temples as a whole are of the astylar order, pillars being
notable by their absence.
The Odishan temples are divided into three groups: (a) Early
Period (c.750-900 A.D.) e.g. Parashurameshwar and
Lakshmanesvara temples at Bhubaneshwar, (b) Middle Period
(c.900-1100 A.D.) e.g. Mukteshwara and Lingaraja temple at
Bhubaneshwar and Jagannath temple at Puri and (c) Later
Period (c.1100-1250 A.D.) e.g. Raja Rani Temple at
Bhubaneshwar and the Sun Temple at Konark. The main group
of temples is concentrated in Bhubaneshwar, which is known as
the "Temple City of India". The Lingaraja Temple, built in the
11th century, is the finest of the 600-odd temples of
Bhubaneshwar. The Mukteshwara Temple built in the 10th
century is richly sculpted and is well known for its stone arch at
the entrance and extensive carvings of the tales from the
Panchatantra. The temple is a magnificent example of Orissa
Architecture. The Rajarani temple, the Parsurameshwara temple,
the Svarnajaleswara temple, the Vaital temple and the Yogini
temple are the other renowned temples in Bhubaneshwar.
A few miles from this temple town are two of the largest
buildings in eastern India, the temple of Jagannath at Puri and
the Sun temple at Konark. The 12th century Jagannath temple at
Puri is known for its annual Rath Yatra. The grandest
achievement of the Orissan School of Architecture is the Sun
temple at Konark (c. 1250 AD). The temple, dedicated to Surya,
is fashioned like a ratha (chariot) with the base of the structure
having 12 giant wheels, each nearly ten feet high. The entire
surface is filled out with sculpted forms of outstanding beauty,
some of which are of a markedly erotic character. These indicate
the emergence of a particular phase of Hinduism, better known
as Tantrism. Though much of this structure is now in ruins, its
sheer grandeur and size still inspire awe