Akhadachandi Temple is a 10th century A.D. temple in 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°14’46”N.,Long.85°60’02”E.,Elev.61 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...

, India. The temple is situated in the south-western embankment of Bindusagar tank in Badu Sahi, Old town.

Description

It is 15 metres east of Markandesvara temple and to the north-west of Mohini temple at a distance of 30 metres. The presiding deity is Mahisasuramardini. The temple is facing towards south and the presiding deity is facing towards east. Various religious sacraments like Durgastami and Balabhoga are performed here. The temple is maintained by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation. It is in fair state of preservation. The temple was repaired by the Orissa State Archaeology under the X and XI Finance Commission Award. The temple is surrounded by Bindusagar tank in the east at a distance of 6.40 metres, Markandeya temple in the west and private resedential buildings in the southern side.

Architectural features

The temple is constructed in the Kalingan style using coarse-grained sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

. The main temple is a Khakhara Deul. It is rectangular on plan measuring 1.28 metres x 1.83 metres. On elevation, the vimana

Vimana

Vimāna is a word with several meanings ranging from temple or palace to mythological flying machines described in Sanskrit epics.-Etymology and usage:Sanskrit vi-māna literally means "measuring out, traversing" or "having been measured out"...

 is of khakhara

Khakhara

Khakhara or Khkhra is a village in Sahabganj, Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh, India. The first gram pradhan of the village is Shri Lalji Singh. Paddy and wheat are the main crops grown there. Other notable people of Khakhara are Shri Shivpujan Singhji , Shahsikant Singh , and Dr...

order measuring 42.94 metres in height from pabhaga to mastaka. From bottom to the top the temple has bada, gandi and mastaka. With fivefold divisions the bada measures 1.74 metres. At the bottom the pabhaga measures 0.26 metres in height. Jangha measuring 0.52 metres is segmented into tala jangha and upara jangha by a set of bandhana moulding. Bandhana measures 0.08 metres and baranda measures in 0.26 metres. Gandi of the temple is in khakhara order which is arranged in three tires with a semi cylindrical roof. The mastaka of the temple consists of a kalasa flanked by two gajakranta on either sides.

Decorative features

The doorjamb is decorated with two plaster design measuring 1.10 metres x 0.65 metres. Besides the main entrance there are two subsidiary gateways in the eastern and northern walls. These two gateways are uniform in measurement measuring 0.92 metres x 0.59 metres.