It
is said that there were about seven thousand temples here, which earned
it the coveted title "The Temple City of India". Even today from the
hundreds of temples that still stand majestically as mute witness
of its glorious past, one can study the chronological development
of temple architecture from the beginning in the 7th Century AD to
its culmination in the 13th Century A.D. It is a centre of art and
craft, and is known for it's rich heritage and cultural background.
Numerous temples, caves, religious ponds etc. propagating faiths of
Hinduism, Buddhism, Vaishnavism, Jainism speak not only of the wealth
and prosperity of the people of the past but also of their masterly
engineering skill and superb architecture in stone. Bhubaneswar, at
present, stands at the confluence of the past and the present and
proudly manifests the soaring spire of the Lord Lingaraj, the Rajarani
Temple, the Pagoda Dhauli, popularly known as the white dome of peace,
the Jain Temples and the caves of Khandagiri and Udayagiri. Once the
flourishing capital of ancient Kalinga, the city is today the largest
city in Orissa and an important Tourist Centre not only in India,
but also in the whole World. |
