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Lingraja Temple
The splendid Lingraja Temple is one of the very old temples in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. The Lingraja temple generously speaks tales of the architectural excellence of the artists of the 11th century. The temple’s 54 meter tower still dominates the skyline of Bhubaneswar, considering centuries have gone past and a lot of architectural development has taken place during the time. The Lingraja temple is one of the most popular temples in the entire state of Orissa. As the name suggests itself, the deity endowing the worshipped seat in the temple is Lord Shiva.
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Meenakshi Temple
The architectural splendor of this highly ornate Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple at Madurai, Tamil Nadu, is an absolute treat to the eyes beyond doubt, without exception. The temple was originally built by Kulasekara Pandya, but who actually brought the temple to present glory and grace were Nayaks (kings) of Madurai. Nayaks ruled the city of Madurai from the 16th to 18th century. Their interest in revamping the Meenakshi temple during their reign resulted into a majestic structure with 12 gopurams or towers, adorned with meticulous sculpted figures of various Hindu gods and goddesses. While the four tallest gopurams grace the structure from the outside by standing tall on each of the four colossal outer walls of the temple respectively, the tallest of the four is on the South, 50 meters or 160 feet tall and the only one with the facility to climb over for a 360 degree view of the temple, including other gopurams and the two vimanas or the roof of the shrine.
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Mukteswara Temple
Dating back to 10th century in the pages of history, the famous Orissan temple - the Mukteswara Temple - may be smaller than other historical monuments, but nevertheless more exquisite than any other around. The temple is barely 35 feet tall but each and every inch square of the temple is carved dexterously. Devoted to Lord Shiva, the Mukteswara temple welcomes its visitors through a highly sculptured entrance called the “Jagmohana” with diamond shaped latticed widows. The inside of the temple is equally well decorated with excellent sculpturing and carving. In fact, the Mukteswara Temple is often complimented extensively for the harmonious employment of architecture and sculpturing.
The Mukteswara Temple sports one of the finest sculpturing artwork and speaks volumes about the skill and dexterity of the sculptors who made it possible. Not only the figures depicted are proportionally accurate, the depiction of the subject is also near perfect, irrespective of the size and scale of the subject being sculpted. The sculpturing of Mukteswara temple also marked introduction of fresh and creative architectural designs, art patterns and icon conceptualizations. The temple, for example, shows monks with skeleton bodies, either meditating or teaching, which has been inferred by experts as relevant to the name of the temple itself. As Mukteswara means “Lord who gives freedom through Yoga”, the skeletal ascetics teaching and meditating implied thus.
Sabrimala Temple
The most revered temple in Kerala is Sabarimala Sri Dharma Sanstha Temple perched at a height of 914 meters above sea level on the Sabari Hills. As the legend has it, Lord Parsurama enshrined Lord Ayyappa at the foot of Sabari Hills, who is worshipped here to this day and believed to be a union of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. References of such an incidence are also found in the Hindu epic Ramayana. “Dharma Shasta” is the second name of Lord Ayyappa.
While a large section believes Lord Ayyappa to be a combined form of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu, some scholars like to believe that He is Lord Buddha. However, since there has been no mention of Lord Buddha ever visiting Kerala or surrounding areas, the theory of the scholars is widely refuted and considered weak.
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Sabrimala Temple
The Thousand Pillar Temple is a picturesque sight any day with its thousand pillars standing tall in a star shaped organization, finely carved and sculptured, over all built such as to take the visitors by awe and mesmerize. The peaceful ambiance the Thousand Pillar Temple is manifolds complemented by its ancient connections with the Kakatiya ruler, Rudradeva, who built this temple in 1163 AD. Such an aged beauty, the Thousand Pillar Temple is located just 10 km away from the Warangal city and 4 km from the Warangal – Hanumakonda highway. The deities worshipped in this temple of thousand pillars are Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu and Lord Surya. The highlight of the temple is the huge monolithic statue of Nandi made up of a single rock of black basalt. Besides, tourists are simply beheld by the intricate carvings, finest of screen perforations and smoothest of rock cut-outs of elephants, representing the cultural and architectural splendor during the reign of Kakatiya rulers.
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Thousand Pillar Temple
The Thousand Pillar Temple is a picturesque sight any day with its thousand pillars standing tall in a star shaped organization, finely carved and sculptured, over all built such as to take the visitors by awe and mesmerize. The peaceful ambiance the Thousand Pillar Temple is manifolds complemented by its ancient connections with the Kakatiya ruler, Rudradeva, who built this temple in 1163 AD. Such an aged beauty, the Thousand Pillar Temple is located just 10 km away from the Warangal city and 4 km from the Warangal – Hanumakonda highway.The deities worshipped in this temple of thousand pillars are Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu and Lord Surya. The highlight of the temple is the huge monolithic statue of Nandi made up of a single rock of black basalt. Besides, tourists are simply beheld by the intricate carvings, finest of screen perforations and smoothest of rock cut-outs of elephants, representing the cultural and architectural splendor during the reign of Kakatiya rulers.
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Tirupati Temple
67 kilometers down south from the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh is the famous Tirupati town, popular throughout the country for being home to the holy shrine of Lord Venkateswara. The highly revered shrine is located at the foot of Tirumala Hills, which are seven hills huddled together – also known as Seshachalam or Venkatachalam – justifying the other name of Lord Venkateswara – the Lord of Seven Hills. Devotees worship Lord Vishnu on these holy hills by the name Lord Venkateaswara and get only a blink glimpse of their deity after waiting in long queues for hours together and spending substantial resources and time on traveling to Seshachalam. With the kind of faith the shrine enjoys among its devotees, no surprises the Tirupati Temple is conveniently the world’s richest temple with a very rich history, spreading across many a centuries.
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