Mukteswar

Mukteswar, the Mukteswara temple of Bhubaneswar, is a small Shiva temple of the tenth century, dated to about 950 to 975 CE in the Somavamsi period. It is admired for its carved torana, a gateway arch found in no other temple of Odisha, and for fine sculpture and compact proportions. Patronage is uncertain, though some credit King Yayati I. Mukteswar sits among the old temples of Bhubaneswar near Siddheswar and Kedareswar. The annual Mukteswar Dance Festival, a three-day Odissi event, is held against its torana.

No founding legend of Mukteswar is recorded in the published sources consulted, and what can be said rests on its architecture. The temple is dated to the second half of the tenth century under the Somavamsi dynasty, between about 950 and 975 CE. Some believe King Yayati I commissioned it, though...