Kalinga (Odisha)

Odisha developed its own branch of the northern temple with its own names, laid down in the Bhuvana Pradipa and other local Shilpa texts. The sanctum tower is the rekha deula, tall and almost straight-sided until it curves in sharply at the top under a heavy amalaka. In front of it stands the pidha deula, the jagamohana, whose roof is a pyramid of horizontal tiers. Larger temples add a natamandira for dance and a bhogamandapa for the offering, all on one line.

Bhubaneswar holds the whole history in one city: the Parashurameswara of the 7th century, the Mukteshwar of about 950 with its torana arch, and the Lingaraja of the 11th century, whose tower rises about 55 metres. The Jagannath temple at Puri, built under Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva of the Eastern Gangas in the 12th century, is the tallest of the living ones; the Konark sun temple of Narasimhadeva I, built about 1250 as a stone chariot with 24 wheels and seven horses, lost its great tower but keeps its jagamohana. Interiors are plain; the carving is on the outside.