God Photos: June 2017

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Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Beautiful Sri Astasambhu Temple, Puri




Sri Astasambhu temple is small temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in Tiadi Sahi of Puri. In native language 'Asta' means 'Eight' and 'Sambhu' is another name of Lord Shiva. Astasambhu temple houses a cluster of eight different colored shiva lingas made of precious stones. Some are white while some are red and black. The shiv lingas appear different in color when viewed from different directions. The color changes due to the reflection of the sun. These eight shiv lingas are named after Lord Shiva.

The temple is constructed from grey sandstone and the style used for building was dry masonry which belongs to the Kalinga style of architecture. The temple has a vimana and a porch. When the vimana is elevated, it stands 3.85m tall. Apart from the main deity Lord Shiva, the four-armed Ganesh shrine is a must visit, because of the unique pose of the deity. Two upper hands are broken whereas the parasu can be seen in the lower left hand and the lower right hand has the rosary with the varadamudra posture.