Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) has finished lighting 16 temples in the city including Anantavasudeva temple, the only Vishnu temple in the Old Town area.
Besides the Anantavasudeva temple, 15 others have been taken up by the development authority to render a new look so that citizens feel nice while taking a walk around them, enjoy the ambience and take photographs.
The other 15 temples where the lighting work was taken up are Markandeswar temple, Sari temple, Vaital temple, Bhabanisankar temple, Chitrakrini temple, Dakarabibhisaneswar temple, Devi Padahara temple, Bakreswar temple, Nabakeswar temple, Swarnajaleswar temple, Papanasini and Maitreswar temples, Aisaneswara temple, Makareswar temple, Dwaravashini temple and Mohini temple.
Anantavasudeva is the only major Vishnu temple in Bhubaneswar. A matured Kalingan temple, Anantavasudeva stands on a uniform platform in Panchyatana style. According to an inscription, the temple was built in honour of Lord Krishna and Balaram on the bank of Bindusagar by Chandrika Devi, daughter of Anangavimdeva III, after the death of her husband.
“According to Ekamra Chandrika, Vishnu had established himself as the doorkeeper in Ekamra Kshetra on the order of Shiva. Thus, tradition calls for worship of Ananta Vasudeva before bathing in the holy Bindusagar. This is supposed to cleanse the soul,” said archaeologist Jitu Mishra.
It may be mentioned here that under the same project, the BDA has illuminated four major flyovers at Vani Vihar, Acharya Vihar, Jaydev Vihar and Rajmahal Square and six parks to create LED lighting arrangement.
The six parks in the list for illumination include Biju Patnaik Park, Indira Gandhi Park, Buddha Jayanti Park, Mahatma Gandhi Park, Madhusudan Das Park and Kharavela Park.