'Bharati Matha Burail Temple – VI' 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 north.

Architectural features

The burial temple stands on a rectangular low platform measuring 4.20 metres in length x 2.38 metres in width with a height of 0.40 metres. On plan, the burial temple has a square vimana and square jagamohana measuring 1.38 square metres and 2.08 square metres respectively. On elevation, the vimana is of pidha order having bada, gandi and mastaka measuring 3.06 metres in height from pabhaga to kalasa. The jagamohana has a flat roof arranged in two tiers having one clerestory in between, which measures 2.82 metres in height from bottom to the top. With threefold divisions of the bada the temple has a trianga bada measuring 1.13 metres. (pabhaga 0.29 metres, jangha 0.54 metres, and baranda 0.30 metres in height). The gandi measuring 1.40 metres in height has five receding tiers and the mastaka with components like beki, ghanta, amalaka, khapuri and kalasa measures 0.53 metres in height. The jagamohana of the temple has a trianga bada measuring 1.50 mtrs28 in height. Pabhaga (0.37 metres.), jangha (0.91 metres) and baranda (0.22 metres.) respectively. The gandi of the temple measures 1.07 metres and mastaka 0.25 metres in height. The raha niches, like a typical Orissan temple, located inmthe jangha portion of east, west and south uniformly measures 0.28 metres in height x 0.22 metres in width x 0.10 metres in depth. All are empty. The decorative features are the Door Jamb of the temple. The doorjambs of the vimana measures 0.70 metres in height and 0.47 metres in width. The jagamohana of the temple has three entrances in the northern, eastern and western sides. The northern entrance of the jagamohana measures 1.54 metres in height x 0.94 metres in width. The building material is made of ocherous sandstone. The construction techniques involved in the construction of the temple are Ashlar masonry and cement plaster. The construction style involved in the construction of the temple is Kalingan.

Current State

Currently the temple is abandoned and is in a bad state of preservation. 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.For conserving the temple a second compound wall measures 8.40 metres in length x 7.50 metres breadth x 10.46 metres in height with a thickness 0.75 metres enclosed four burial temples should be constructed.. The wall is made of laterite blocks with an entrance in the north.