Svapnesvara Siva Temple

Svapnesvara Siva temple
Svapnesvara Siva temple Location in Orissa
Geography
Coordinates
Country	India
State	Orissa
Locale	Bhubaneswar
Elevation	16 m (52 ft)
Culture
Primary deity	Lord Shiva
Architecture
Architectural styles	Kalingan Style (Kalinga Architecture)

Svapnesvara Siva temple is located in Gourinagar, Old Town, Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa, at a distance of 200.00 m northeast of Purvesvara Siva temple. The temple is facing towards east. The Sanctum of the temple is empty that measures 2.00 square m.

Physical description

Surrounding

The temple is surrounded by private residential buildings in south and west directions at a distance of 3.00 m. In the east are a road and a drain in the north. The temple is facing towards East.

Architectural features (Plan and Elevation)

The temple stands on a high pista decorated with three mouldings measuring 50.80 m in length x 5.75 m in width with 0.92 m in height. On plan, the temple is pancharatha with a square vimana and a frontal porch towards east. The vimana measures 4.65 square metres and porch 0.15 m width. On elevation, temple is in rekha order with usual bada, gandi and mastaka measuring 10.00 m from pabhaga to mastaka. The bada of the temple measures 2.85 m in height with threefold division of trianga bada. Pabhaga has five mouldings measuring 0.70 m, plain jangha measuring 1.65 m and the baranda with five moulding measured 0.50 m in height. The gandi of the temple measuring 5.10 m is plain and devoid of ornamentation except at the base which is decorated with chaitya designs.

Raha niche & parsva devatas

The parsvadevata niches located on the raha paga of the jangha on the three sides of north, west and south direction measuring 0.75 m in height x 0.45 m in width and 0.29 m in depth are empty and devoid of ornamantation.

Decorative features

• Doorjambs: The doorjambs are of recent additions installed during the renovation work and are without any carving.
• Lintel: The lintel of the temple is also a renovated one.

The building material used for the construction is light grey sand stone and the construction technique is Dry masonry. The Style is Kalingan. Originally the temple constructed over a lofty pista with three mouldings.

State of preservation

The temple was repaired by Orissa State Archaeology under the X and XI Finance Commission Award. Due to the recent renovation work the temple is in good state of preservation. The temple is totally renovated from pista to kalasa.

Classification	Grade
Architecture	B
Historic	C
Associational	C
Social/Cultural	C

Threats to the property

Some of the conservation problems the temple is facing is that stagnation of drain water in the northern side of the platform will weaken the foundation in the long run.

See also

• List of temples in Bhubaneswar

References

1. Lesser Known Monuments of Bhubaneswar by Dr. Sadasiba Pradhan (ISBN 81-7375-164-1)
2. http://www.ignca.nic.in/asi_reports/orkhurda179.pdf