city of temples bhubaneswar
The locals of Bhubaneshwar informed Sterling that in ancient times there were more than 7000 Shiva temples in Bhubaneshwar containing more than one crore Shivling. Although this fact cannot be confirmed, there are so many temples in Bhubaneshwar that it can be called the "City of Temples".
At present there are more than 500 temples in the city. About 50 of them are ancient temples. The heritage of Bhubaneswar city is related to various religions and sects, such as Buddhist, Jain and Hindu, which are confined within the architectural style of Bhubaneswar city. Bhubaneswar rightly deserves the title of 'Greatest Heritage City of India'.
Although the city of Bhubaneshwar is now a representative of the Hindu cultural and religious center, yet due to the interaction of different faiths in ancient times, this city presents a multifaceted character, due to which there is a fusion of all faiths and religions.
Architectural Genealogy of Bhubaneshwar
Architecture is an important dimension of any civilization which helps in understanding its progress at the civil and religious level. Among all the ancient civilizations of the world, Indian civilization has a special importance, due to its continuous existence, which has been building an unbroken approach since its inception.
Architectural History of Bhubaneswar
Temples have played an important role in the religious development of this city by providing means and means for various rituals and worship. There are many famous temple towns in India which are very popular for their architectural style, religious importance and local rituals.
Although Varanasi, Ujjain, Dwarka, Mathura, Puri, Tirupati, Rameswaram are some of the most famous pilgrimage sites, most of these places lack surviving archaeological remains from the earliest times. Khajuraho, Mahabalipuram, Ajanta, Ellora, Badami, Sanchi, Nalanda are some of the religious centers which are famous for their ancient art and architectural style. But all of them have faced such a period due to which their heritage has started fading into oblivion and has started turning into ruins.
rich city of art and architecture
Bhubaneshwar emerges as a powerful competitor when you want to discover a temple town that is imbued with the relentless nature of Indian civilization. In fact, it is the only Indian city that boasts of art and architecture from the early period of written Indian history to the last golden period of Hindu domination. The excellence of Bhubaneswar as compared to other regions of India is proved on three important grounds. Firstly, it has been performing continuous artistic activities for over two millennia. Second, within it are monuments dedicated to the three major ancient religions of India, Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. Thirdly, the city is still popular as a holy pilgrimage site, and many of its temples continue to perform rituals and rituals.
shishupalgarh
The architectural journey of Bhubaneshwar started from Shishupalgarh, a ruined besieged city, whose history is dated from 3rd to 4th century. It is believed that it was a prosperous city before the Maurya dynasty established its suzerainty and perhaps it was also the capital of the ancient Kalinga region. Only a few pillars from the 4th century now stand in the name of the remains of this city. The remains of the structures found in the excavations indicate that in ancient times it was a prosperous city with a beautiful and well-planned layout and structure like a capital.
Mauryan Emperor Ashoka
The next important era of Bhubaneshwar was 268 BC. to 232 BC In the middle of AD, the Mauryas came under the reign of Emperor Ashoka. Ashoka had inherited a vast empire from his father. Under this empire, most of India, except some southern parts and Kalinga region, were Pakistan and Afghanistan. Ashoka had included the Kalinga region in his empire by doing the only war of his life. It is said that after seeing the destruction in this war, Ashoka ended the enmity with his neighboring states. Ashoka had already adopted Buddhism. Therefore, he took many paths to spread Buddhism far and wide.
Bhubaneshwar has always been a part of Kalinga. Ashoka's inscriptions number 1-10 and 14 and two other Kalinga inscriptions were found buried on the rocks of Dhauligiri. On one side of these inscriptions, there is an embossed gaj on the rock in which the front of the gaj appears to come out of the rock. This craft of Gaja is one of the few surviving remains of Mauryan art. Although the brilliance of typical Mauryan art is absent in this craft, its animal-friendly subtleties are commendable.
Raja Kharavel
Shortly after the Maurya suzerainty, the first BC In AD Raja Kharavela had again conquered Kalinga. Since Raja Kharavela was a Jain, the art and architectural style of that period was also originally of Jain style. During that period many caves and rock shelters were excavated for the meditation of Jain monks. Most of those caves are on two hills located close to each other. 18 caves are located on Udayagiri hill and 15 caves are located on Khandagiri hill which are near the city. These caves are famous for sculpted sculptures, in particular, the sculptures telling the stories of Shakuntala and Vasavadatta are very popular.
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