Orissa is specifically famous for temples, That is why this holy State is known as a land of temples. It is also said that there are more temples in Orissa than in the rest of the country put together. A temple is a sacred place for offering prayer to God or Goddess, In ancient India, temple architecture of high standard developed in almost all regions. The distinct architectural style of the temple. construction in different parts was a result of geographical, climatic, ethnic, racial historical, and linguistic diversities.
The Orissan temple architecture ranging from the seventh century to the thirteenth century A. D.. however, corresponds to an altogether different category for their unique representations called the Kalinga style of temple architecture. Though broadly they come under the Northem or Nagara style, they have certain special features which are uniquely their own. The Orissan temples are of three types. viz (i) Rekha Deula, (ii) Khakhara Deula, and (i) Pidha or Bhadra Deula. The temples of Orissa exhibit a majestic grandeur. An Orissan temple (doula) usually consists of a sanctum, one or several front porches (jagamabana) usually with pyramidal roofs, a dancing hall (Nata-Mandira), and a hall of offerings, i.e. bhoga-mandira.
It is fact that the temples at Orissa provide some of the finest examples of the Indo-Aryan style of temple architecture, which is distinct from the South Indian style. This book mainly contains three chapters.
The first chapter speaks about the temples of Bhubaneswar. The second chapter describes the temples of Puri and the third chapter elaborates on the features and importance of the Konark Sun temple in detail. However, the book aims at studying the Architectural aspect of the Orissan temple. The students, scholars, and general readers may get detailed information about the various temples of Orissa.