Bharati Matha Burail Temple – VIII is located in the South–western corner of Bharati Matha in Badheibanka Chowk, Old Town, Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, officially Odisha. The city has a long history of over 2000 years starting with Chedi dynasty who had Sisupalgarh near present-day Bhubaneswar as their capital...

( Lat. 20 14’ 43”N, Long. 85 49’ 93”E, Elev.,86 ft.)in the state of Orissa

Orissa

Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

. There are multiple owners of the temple and is a public property. It is a burial temple with precinct structure and have a Pidha Deul typology.11. The temple is graded 'B' in architecture and associations and 'C' in historic and cultural perspective.

It was recognized as a place for worship in earlier years and currently the temple is abandoned.

Physical description

These nine burial-temples are surrounded by the Bharati Matha building in east, Talesvara temple in west, compound wall of the burials in north and south. The temple faces towards east.

Architectural features

The temple stands on a square platform measuring 2.38 square metres with a height of 0.46 metres. The temple measures 1.95 square metres. On elevation, the Vimana is of pidha order having bada, gandi and mastaka that measures 4.35 metres in height. With the threefold divisions of bada the temple has a trianga bada measuring 1.46 metres in height (pabhaga 0.34 metres, jangha-0.82 metres, baranda-0.30 metres). Gandi has receding tiers measuring 1.80 metres in height. Mastaka has usual beki, ghanta, amlaka and kalasa that measures 1.09 metres in height. The raha niches are located in the raha paga of jangha in west, north and south. They uniformly measure 0.37 metres in height x 0.26 metres in width x 0.10 metres in depth and all are empty. The decorative features of the temple are 32. The doorjambs are decorated with three plain vertical bands and measures 1.13 metres in height and 0.63 metres in width. The building material used in the temple is Laterite. The Construction techniques used in the temple are Ashlar masonry and cement plaster. The Style of the construction is the Kalingan.

Current State

Currently the temple is abandoned and is in a bad state of preservation and the signs of deterioration is conspicuous. The structural dimensions of the temple are deteriorating in a rapid process. Wild vegetation growing all over the structure and cracks in roofs and walls are some of the major sturcural problems the temple is facing currently.

Reference notes

Lesser Known Monuments of Bhubaneswar by Dr. Sadasiba Pradhan (ISBN 81-7375-164-1
Date of Documentation: 22 / 12 / 2006
Documenter: Dr. Sadasiba Pradhan and team
http://ignca.nic.in/asi_reports/orkhurda019.pdf

http://ignca.nic.in/img_0002_as_or_khurda.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharati_Matha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hindu_temples_in_India#Orissa

www.eorissa.com