Mukteshwar Temple in Bhubaneshwar and it's heavenly arch!

There are temples which leave a mark on you, and then there are temples where their entrances take your breath away. The Mukteshwar Temple located in the heart of Odisha's capital, Bhubaneshwar, is one such place where the arched gateway is far more famous than the temple itself.

Gods with flowers at Mukteshwar Temple

Intricate carvings of Mukhteshwar Temple

Temple complex

Riding a mythical animal

Woman with a snake

So what's its story?

Well, the heavily decorated archway is a detached structure which was built in 900 AD and heavily inspired by the Buddhist architecture. This was the time of revival of Hinduism in India, though Buddhism was still strong in pockets and left it's mark on multiple temples constructed across India.

Gate of Mukhteshwar Temple

Detailed view of the gate

Buddha face

Another Buddha face

It's a simple structure of two columns which support a curved toran (archway). The temple itself is one of the smallest that you will find around, but the carvings here are considered to be one of the best. Compare this to the Torans of Vadnagar, Narendra Modi's hometown, and you will understand what I mean by different in size.

The carvings on the toran are mainly of beautiful women in sensuous poses, along with beads and flowers. However it's the face in the center which is most interesting - it's exactly how you would imagine Buddha to be. In fact about ten years ago when I visited this temple for the first time with my close friend Sanjeeb, this is something we discussed in detail. He is an architect from Odisha and knows quite a lot about the evolution of temple architecture in India. Of course back then, Odisha was known as Orissa and Sanjeeb was Sanjeev, but that's a different story altogether :)

However, it's not just the toran but the entire temple which is full of stunningly gorgeous carvings. It's rather small for a temple from that era, but the detailed work on the stones make up for it's size. Now, I have visited many many temples in Odisha, including the famed Sun Temple at Konark, but I confess that the detailing seen at the temple here remains unsurpassed.

Lovely carvings

And more carvings :)

Despite the damage, many carvings survive

A beautiful lady

Lions

Intrigued? Read more about the temple and it's other related stories at Breathing life into stone.

My recent trip to Mukteshwar Temple

My recent trip to the Mukteshwar temple was much different. I went there when the sun was much less punishing and the weather much cooler. It was an unplanned visit but I was keen to revisit nevertheless as I also wanted to talk to the priest at the temple and know a bit more about the place. As it turned out, I did speak to a helper to the priest as the priest barely spoke any Hindi and also asked him about his dream :)

A photo posted by Siddhartha Joshi (@siddharthajoshi) on Dec 5, 2015 at 8:08pm PST

What is your dream Rameshji?

"Everyone dreams of more money and so do I. Money is necessary to make life possible."

Ramesh works as an assistant to the priest at the legendary Mukteshwar temple at Bhubhaneshwar, Odisha. His work includes keeping the temple premises clean, prepare the blog for the gods, but there is a different priest who offers prayers to the Lord in the temple.

Built in the 10th century, the temple is often described as one of the jewels of Odisha. However, he didn't always work here. Coming from the town of Konark, he has done this job in many other temples as well.

Ramesh has one son and three daughters, but he doesn't want his son to continue the family tradition. He hopes that with education he will get a good job and make his life better.