A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c21.98

c21.98

In the kingdom of Kalinga (Orissa) many temples were built from the ninth to the thirteenth century in the North Indian style. Bhuvaneśvar contains the main group, numbering over thirty. Within fifty miles of it are two of the largest and most important monuments of the locality, the temple of Jagannāth at Puri and that of the Sun at Konarak. There is also a small group in the south of Mukhalingam on the coast of the Ganjam district. The Mukhalingam series may well be taken to count among the earliest examples and to date from the ninth century, if not earlier, as it contains architectural features bringing it into unmistakable relation with the early Chālukyan temples of the Deccan. The most striking example in the group is the Mukhalingeśvara, comprising five shrines—a central sanctuary with four minor shrines one at each corner. In its decorative features the temple shows traces of both Chālukya and Gupta influences.