Famous Temples in India

Architecture

The temple consists of three main parts –the shikhara, or the top, the center and the basement. The shikhara is pyramid-shaped. The base of the structure consists of huge brick pillars and there is a spacious entrance hall in the front. It is also believed that this structure was once destroyed by Kalapahar, and was later resurrected. A most striking feature of the temple is the continuous row of elephants carved on the lowest level of the temple walls - a structure akin to the stone cut temple of Ellora. The outer walls of the shrine is also covered with relief figures of the ten incarnations of Vishnu, devotees in procession and episodic scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. There is a big pond known as Madhab Pukhuri near the temple. Doul, Bihu and Janmastami festivals are celebrated every year in the temple.

This entire structure rests over enormous brick pillars and is considered as an addition to the original structure of the temple, possibly constructed by the Koch king of the 15th era, King Naranarayan. There is a huge entrance hall made of bricks and measuring about 40 feet by 20 feet. A flight of stone steps leads you into the 14 sq ft Garbhagriha, which contains image of the residing deity and its podium. The entrance to this shrine is made of four blocks of granite and is about 10 feet high and 5 feet wide. This opens into an anteroom, made of stone and about 10 feet by 10 feet. Two stone screens, cut in the form of lotus flowers, lay on either side of the room with apertures for the entry of light and air. The exterior of the temple has huge sculptured figures, representing the 10 Avataras, with Buddha as the ninth.