Parasuramesvara Temple
— — the morning the carvings catch the first light.
Not only on a wall.
“The smallest of the great temples in Bhubaneswar's old town, and one of the earliest still standing. Sandstone the colour of dry honey. Latticed windows cut for sound and shadow. Pilgrims pass through on the way to Lingaraja, two streets north, and pause here for the figures dancing along the wall: Shiva, Ganesha, river goddesses worn smooth by thirteen centuries of touch.
Parasuramesvara Temple, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Parasuramesvara Temple sits in the old quarter of Bhubaneswar, capital of Odisha. Built around 650 CE under the Shailodbhava dynasty, it is among the oldest surviving stone temples in eastern India and the best-preserved example of early Kalinga architecture. The vimana rises only about thirteen metres, but the attached jagamohana, or assembly hall, is one of the earliest known anywhere in the region. Sandstone walls carry dense carvings of Shaiva and Shakta iconography, including a frieze of seated musicians on the western face.
The walls are cut from local khondalite and chlorite sandstone quarried from the Eastern Ghats. The figures along the lower courses (Lakulisha, Ganesha, the seven mothers) were carved in the seventh century and have been worn by hand and weather since. Light moves across the western face in the late afternoon and catches the eight-piece frieze of musicians and dancers, which is the most photographed detail on the temple. Latticework windows on the jagamohana pierce the wall in geometric patterns and let the interior breathe.
The temple stands in a walled compound on Lewis Road in the Old Town, a short walk from the much larger Lingaraja and a few minutes from the Mukteshvara. It is an active Hindu temple and open to all visitors; the surrounding lawn is quiet outside the festival season. Shivaratri in February draws crowds; most other days bring only a handful of pilgrims and a custodian. Bhubaneswar railway station is about three kilometres south, and Biju Patnaik airport another four beyond.