The Muktesvara Temple in Bhubaneswar

While much of a general nature has been written about the temple architecture of Orissa, there have been until now few studies which focus on a single Orissan temple. Yet such studies are of great importance, not only in contributing to an understanding of stylistic development, but for the proper assessment of the unique formal and iconographical features of a given monument. The exquisite Muktesvara temple in Bhubaneswar is the focus of the present book. In assessing the style of the Muktesvara, the author traces its formal antecedents, discussing also influences from outside Orissa, concluding with the influence of the Muktesvara itself upon subsequent developments in Orissa. He also puts forth the most complete and exhaustive description of the Muktesvara temple to date. Finally, he offers an interpretation of the temple and its sculptures, with discussion based on the idea of a unified iconographical program.