The ancient city of Bhubaneswar (Bhuban being world and Iswar God) is a walk down centuries of temple architecture. It is probably the only city in the world that enables an authentic over-view of the stages of development of Hindu religious architecture. In the fast moving world of today these temples are a gentle reminder of the splendor, the heritage that was once India. Regular dances by the 'Devadasis' or divine servant girls, rituals and rites, recital of hymns were all an integral part of temple culture.
Temples in Bhubaneswar are built on a common plan as prescribed by Hindu norms. All visible parts of a temple are sculpted with motifs of priests, kings, courtiers, pilgrims, celestial dancers, couples in embrace, birds, animals or scenes from religious epics and legends. Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa, is an interesting mixture of ancient temples and modern buildings. At one time the city boasted of around 10,000 temples of which a few hundreds still survive, dominated by the ancient Lingaraj Temple, the Mukteswar Temple and the Raja Rani Temple. No wonder then that the city is best known as the 'City of Temples'. Bhubaneswar has also rapidly moved into the age of technology and modernisation. This is evident from the numerous new high-rise buildings, air-conditioned shopping complexes, software development centres, IT training institutes, etc.
Bhubaneswar quite adequately provides 21st century facilities for holding residential conferences and conventions of international standards.
|
|
|
