摘要: Description　　Bhubaneswar has a unique position among the cities of India. A temple town with series of ancient sandstone temples, heritage ponds and water tanks, its wealth of monuments is testament t

Description

　　Bhubaneswar has a unique position among the cities of India. A temple town with series of ancient sandstone temples, heritage ponds and water tanks, its wealth of monuments is testament to an ancient continuous architectural and historical heritage covering over 2,000 years from the 3^rd century BC to the 15^th century AD representing most of the important dynastic changes over the period. Bhubaneswar is dubbed the “Temple City” – a nom-de-plume earned because of the 700 temples which once stood here. It still boasts of a cluster of magnificent temples, constituting virtually a complete record of Kalinga architecture almost from its nascence to its culmination. Ekamra Kshetra[1] comprises the area of the old city of Bhubaneswar that forms the centre of this temple architecture and is considered a Hindu holy city.

　　As per the Anantavasudeva Inscription of Paramarddi, Ekamra was a sacred area “...adorned with hundreds of mango-groves, wherein exists a single Devakula [temple] surrounded by numerous temples.” As per Ekamra Purana, a 13th-century Sanskrit treatise, it is believed that this sacred kshetra was a Panchakrosa (10 miles) in circumference bordered by Khandagiri hills in the west, Kundalesvara temple in the east, Balhadevi Temple on the north and Bahirangesvara temple near Dhauli on the south, with Lingaraj Temple as its centre. It is also described that there was an inner circle to this Kshetra bound by Meghesvara temple in the east and Sundaresvara temple in the south. Ekamra Kshetra comprised of 45 villages and was divided into asta-ayatana[2] or eight sacred precincts, each with its water body, temples, small shrines, tirthas and prescribed pilgrim/ritual procession routes that are ritualistically and symbolically connected to the Lingaraj Temple.

　　Although Lingaraj Temple was the centre of Ekamra Kshetra, the old town of Bhubaneswar itself was focused towards the Bindusagar Tank in the near vicinity of Lingaraj Temple. A geomantic approach was adopted in town planning with specific directions vis-à-vis topography, location and orientation of water bodies, landuse zoning et al. The town structure was a not-so-geometric but organic derivative of the Mandala[3] concept. The tanks such as Bindusagar, Devipadahara Tank, Kapilesvara Tank were attached with religious symbolisms and considered holy.

　　This temple town contains scores of ancient stone temple which vary in size from the gigantic structures like the great Lingaraja, 128 feet high, to the miniatures of a few feet set up in waysides or along the banks of the ancient tanks. The area, in which the ruined or living monuments are scattered, extends over 10 miles and are testimony to Bhubaneswar’s continued occupation throughout the ages.

　　The property, apart from its spiritual, religious and architectural wealth, has abundance of archaeological evidence, manifest in the extensive ruins of Sisupalgarh, Ashokan rock edicts and evidence of ancient wall at Dhauli hillock.

　　The next link in the chain of the historical monuments is found at Udayagiri and Khandagiri, the twin hillocks, situated about 6 miles to the north-west of the temple town. These hillocks are honeycombed with rock cut caves originally meant for the Jain ascetics. These caves with their bas-reliefs and Bahmi inscriptions provide us with the early specimens of art and architecture of the place, which can be approximately seen in one of these caves, known as the Hati Gumpha. This unique historical document throws considerable light on the early history of Kalinga and India in the 1^st BC and 1st century AD.

　　Next, in order of antiquity are the numerous temples mostly situated in the present town, of which the earliest ones, the temples of Laxmanesvara, Satrugnesvara and Parsuramesvara, according to the chronology so far established belongs to the 6^th century and the latest one, that of Ananta-vasudeva, dates back to 1178 AD. There is thus a gap of about 700 years between the Jain caves of the Khandagiri and Udayagiri and the earliest temple of the place. But recent archeological evidence shows that the limits of the temple building period can be extended on both sides and the gap narrowed; the earliest temple can be back to the 6^th century and the latest brought down to the 15^th or the 16^th century CE.

　　If, therefore, the narrowed gap can still be reduced or completely bridged with new discoveries, we shall have a continuous history of the development of art and architecture of the place from the 4^th or 3^rdcentury BC to the 15^th or 16^th century AD, a period of about 2000 years, which covers almost the whole dated history of Odisha from its very dawn to the last Hindu dynasty.

　　The Kalingan temple architecture of Bhubaneswar represents the Nagara style temple architecture with regional ramification to be suitably called with the nomenclature Kalingan temple architecture depicting the grace, the joy and the rhythm of life in all its wonders varieties. The temples of Ekamarakshetra have been built by the creative impulse of the builders within evolved canonical texts or Silpa Sastras like Bhubanapradipa, Silpa Prakash and Silpa Ratnakosha etc. Many a terms used in these, if not all, are even now used by the traditional Odia architects.

　　The temples are mostly built up sand stone, the Khandagiri and Udayagiri hills providing the nearest quarry. The masonry is ashlar with the surface stones finely dressed and fitted together.

　　Architecturally, the Odishan temples resolve themselves into three broad orders, known in local terminology as Rekha, Pidha and Khakhara. In a typical Odishan temple the first two go almost side by side and from two component parts of one architectural scheme, the sanctum with the surmounting curvilinear spire, combinedly known as the Deul (also called Badadeul, the big temple or the Rekhadeul, a temple of which the spire gives the optical impression of one continuous line) and the frontal porch, called Jagamohana or Mukha-sala(also known as Bhadradeul, auspicious temple, or Pidhadeul, a temple of which the roof is made up of Pidhas or horizontal platforms), characterized by a pyramidal roof of receding steps. Thus a typical Odishan temple is a combination of two types.

　　The cell is generally smaller and less spacious than the porch. This is in conformity with the Hindu practices, for the cell is meant for a glimpse of the deity and ritual worship, and the porch for congregation where the visitor may wait, meditate or read. To these were added in the fully developed temples two more structures on the same axis, known as Natyamandira and Bhogamandapa (hall of offering).

　　This proud sculptural and architectural wealth, coupled with its sanctity as Ekamra Kshetra, one of the five great religious centers in Odisha since early medieval days, attracts thousands of visitors to Bhubaneswar from all corners of the world throughout the year. Even the most casual spectator is thrilled at the sight of the majestic and sublime grandeur of its soaring temples, the perfect symphony between their sculpture and architecture, the superb workmanship of their carvings and the grand repertoire of their sculptural and architectural motifs. To the connoisseur of fine arts, Bhubaneswar is one the most delightful resorts in India.

　　Total Historic Structures in Ekamra Kshetra - 199

　　Centrally protected monuments - 23

　　State protected monuments – 11

　　[1] Ekamra Kshetra can be loosely translated to mean an ‘area (kshetra) adorned with mango trees (ekamra). As noted in Ekamra Purana, a 13th-century Sanskrit treatise, the presiding state deity of Lingaraj was originally under a mango tree, hence the name Ekamra Kshetra.

　　[2] Asta-ayatana is a ancient Hindu system of reference such that shrines are located at the four cardinal points and at the four intermediate points of cosmos. The eight sectoral regions that emerge are guarded by their respective gods.

　　[3] Mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism that represents the Universe. Graphically, it denotes any plan or chart which symbolically represents the cosmos. The basic form of most mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point. Mandalas often exhibit radial balance.