Parashurameshvara Temple, Bhubaneshwar – The Temple

Parashurameshvara Temple, Bhubaneshwar – The Temple

This is a west facing Temple. The Temple consists of Sanctum and Jagamohana. It is a living temple and has two entrances. The main entrance has two dvarapalas at the base of doorjamb. There is a Gajalakshmi panel at the top of the entrance. The temple is triratha on plan and triangabada in elevation. Presiding Deity is called as Parasurameswara.  He is housed in the sanctum in the form of Lingam.

The south facing entrance has more beautiful relief images. The doorjambs has dvarapalas sculptures, Nayikas, Mithuna images, lions and different decorations. The top portion has the image of Ganesha flanked by Ganas. The vimana is square in plan. The vimana is of rekha order.

The Jagamohana of the temple is unique in style. Instead of being a stepped pyramidal tower called as Pidha deula as found in most of the other temples in Bhubaneswar, it has a terraced roof in two stages. It is rectangular in shape with a clerestory. The style is unique as it belongs to early Kalingan architecture style. 

The temple contains the earliest representation of a six-armed Mahisasuramardini (Durga) image. Though the temple is a Shaiva shrine, it contains the images of Shakta deities in the niches. The temple is the first among Bhubaneswar temples to contain Saptamatrika images, a group of seven goddesses. These images are flanked by Ganesha and Virabhadra.

Sculptures of an eight-armed dancing Ardhanarishvara, Vishnu, Indra, Surya, Yama, Kartikeya riding on his peacock vehicle, Shiva & Parvathi, Ravana Anugraha Moorthy, Nataraja, Ganga & Yamuna, floral designs, birds and animals can be found in the outer walls, niches and vimana. There is a Sahasra Linga, found in the prakara near the Sapta Matas sculpture.