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Essay name: Temples of Purushottama Kshetra Puri

Author: Ratnakar Mohapatra
Affiliation: Sambalpur University / Department of History

This essay studies the Temples of Purushottama Kshetra (Puri) which is renowned for its historic and religious significance, situated in Orissa (Odisha) by the Bay of Bengal. Purusottama-ksetra is famous for the Lord Jagannatha temple and numerous smaller temples, it showcases the distinctive Kalinga architectural style.

Chapter 6 - Shakta Temples of Purushottama Kshetra

Page:

27 (of 54)


External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)


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Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)


Warning! Page nr. 27 has not been proofread.

niches of the bāḍa. The bāḍa of the vimāna is surmounted by the pyramidal superstructure and it consists of three piḍhās. Dopichhā lions are fixed on the top of kanika pagas of the gandi. Deuḷa Cāriṇi figures are inserted in the four cardinal directions of the beki above rāhās. The mastaka of the vimāna consists of usual elements of Orissan piḍhā deuḷa. Here the ayudha is cakra. The sanctum preserves goddess Sarva Mangalā as the presiding deity of the temple. The four armed devi Mangaḷ� image has been installed on the plain pedestal. She displays gadā in right upper hand, varada mudrā in right lower hand, trident in left upper hand and abhaya mudra in left lower hand respectively. Devi is in seated posture on the siṃhāsana of 2 feet high and the image of the deity is made of black chlorite. Lion, the traditional mount of devī is carved in the pedestal. The backside head of the image is decorated with trefoil makara headed arch. Inner walls of the sanctum are completely undecorated and covered by China plates. The sanctum has one doorway towards the jagamohana. Door jambs of the sanctum are decorated with nāgabandhas. The centre of the doorway lintel is carved with an image of Mahāvira Hanumāna. Navagrahas are carved on the architrave above the doorway lintel. They are all in padmāsana posture with usual attributes in their hands. There is an image of goddess Mangalā carved above the navagraha slab. Vyāghra mukhi and Simha-mukhi figures are carved on the base of both side jambs of the doorway. Gangā and Yamunā figures with their respective mounts are also carved in the beneath of Vyaghra mukhi and Simha mukhi figures who are acting as the traditional dvārapāḷas of the devītemple. Jagamohana:- The jagamohana of the temple is a piḍhā deuḷa and its height is about 13 feet. The baḍa of the structure does not have any ornamentation. The northern side bāḍa contains an image of Sankaṭa Tāriṇ� in a piḍhā mundi niche. The bāḍa of the jagamohana is surmounted by the pyramidal superstructure. There is a small mastaka noticed on the top of the upper pidha of the gandi. In the niches of the inner walls of jagamohana are housed with Dasamahāvidyā figures such as Kālī, Ugra-Tarā, Soḍasī, Mahāvidyā, Bhubaneśvarī, Bagaḷ�, Dhumāvatī, Chhinna masthā, Matāngi and Mahā-Lakṣmī. 264

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