Bhaskareshwara, Megheshwara Temples, Bhubaneshwar

Bhaskareswar Temple (alternatively called Bhaskaresvara or Bhaskareswara Temple) is one of the more unusual monuments. The unusual shape and height of the temple is in part to successfully house the Shiva Linga. Access to the base of Linga is via doorways on all four sides of a 4m high temple platform. Above the platform is the deul with a nine storey gandi (tower). The only ornamentation on the exterior temple walls are the parshvadevatas, Kartikeya, Parvati and Ganesha. There is a complete absence of a Jagamohana and there is no evidence that there ever was one, which is unusual for an Odishan temple. Megheswar is a living temple, enshrining a Shiva Linga. The exterior walls have carvings of dancing females, various animals such as lions, elephants and yalis, birds, scroll work, and Shiva adopting numerous postures. Some of the best images are around the Jagamohana entrance, with naga-nagi pillars flanking the doorway and Navagraha above, each of the nine celestial bodies of the universe set within a separate niche.