Parashurameshvar Temple

Temple constructed about 750 C.E. in
the city of Bhubaneshvar in the state
of Orissa, dedicated to the god Shiva
in his aspect as the “Lord of
Parashuram.” This title refers to
Parashuram’s long period of asceticism, in which he worshiped Shiva as
his chosen deity and was rewarded
with Shiva’s grace. The temple is an
early example of the Orissan variant
of the northern Indian Nagara temple
style. The Nagara style emphasizes
verticality, with the whole temple
building culminating in a single high
point, and the Orissan variant of this
style has a single enormous tower
(deul) over the image of the temple’s
primary deity, with shorter subsidiary
buildings leading up to it. The
Parashurameshvar temple is the first
example of this basic pattern—a low,
flat assembly hall (jagamohan), followed by a much taller and narrower
tower (deul), in this case about forty
feet high. Although later Orissan temples are much larger—some of the
deuls tower over 200 feet—and often
include additional buildings and structures, they all retain this basic pattern.