Mukteshwara temple

After Parshurameshwar I came out of the compound and looked at the street it was lined with beautiful trees. The weather was pleasant so I decided to explore the other temples on foot. 

I passed by a Daiteshwar temple that looked straight out of Jungle book. It had a peepal growing over the vimana. Yet again a Shiva temple. I was definitely noting to myself that this was a Shaiva Kshetra. 

I went inside the Mukteshvar temple complex. The main temple is smaller than Parshurameshwar temple. The grand torana making it stand out. Though a Hindu temple it shows influences of Buddhist style of decorative carvings. The jaali work is also a unique feature of this temple. 

There are other smaller temples and some devis in open spaces this is surrounded by a compound wall. This complex is the best work in Kalinga architecture. It is grander in layout than Parshurameshwar. The Marich kunda is a pond where people have a ritual bath. There is also a well whose waters have miraculous powers to cure infertility. 

I noticed that there were huge black curtains put up to form a sort of a background. Some sound systems were being set up. I was cursing them in the day time. Read on to know what brought me back to Mukteshvar at night.

Secrets of Odisha

Parshurameshwar, Bhubaneswar

18 Jan 2024

Namaskar 🙏🏽 welcome back to my blog my loyal readers.  It’s been a big gap but this series will keep you engaged I promise. 

2024 looks like a great year to travel for me. My year began with Ashtavinayak yatra in Maharashtra. So Odisha was my second tour this year technically. Yes already! I will post Ashtavinayak yatra and other explorations from last year after Secrets of Odisha.

All bookings were done before I left Mumbai like I always do on my planned holidays. My friend Sai Priya @mycookingcanvas on Instagram curated this complete tour including 🥘 food, 🪁 culture, 🛖 heritage, 🛕 spirituality, 🦤🦆birding, 🛶adventure and 🛍️ shopping ! 

I flew into Bhubaneswar and went to the hotel straight for a night’s rest. Woke up to this lovely view. 

Quick calls with Sai and we decided to meet for Mahaprasad at one of the temples and that I spend the morning exploring the old town temple complexes. An auto ride was a perfect way to get to know a new city that was lazily waking up under the gloomy sky and chilly air. We always draw parallels to known places and Bhubaneswar reminded me of old Bangalore with curvilinear hoardings only that they were in Odia. The same small buildings, independent houses, food stalls selling idlis when I was told Odias eat dahi bada ghugni alur dom all day. I got off at the Parshurameshwar temple. 

Parshurameshwar is the oldest temple of Bhubaneswar and the architecture style is Nagara which consists of tall vimana and mandapa or hall. The unique presence of Sapta matrikas on outer wall decorations indicates importance of Shakta worship.

It set the tone for the day. Magic in stone. Intricate sculptures narrating the epics decorated the outside while inside a simple quite garbh gruha was a shivling. The poojari came from nowhere asked my name and gotra poured water over the ling and disappeared again. I stepped out into the compound under the banyan tree to soak up the atmosphere of this place. All this within a modern city of India.

That was the start of my Secrets Of Odisha 11 day tour. All days well spaced with activities and rest. This time I am posting place wise unlike Day wise done in the past so that I do justice to our rich heritage.

Note : Sai Priya can customise tours as per your interests and budget. A very caring hospitality. You can even sign up for a temple food cooking class with her. Where you cook together and eat.