In the ancient city of Bhubaneswar in Odisha — the Ekamra Kshetra, once said to hold a thousand shrines — rises the majestic Lingaraja temple, the greatest of the city's temples and a masterpiece of the Kalinga style, its towering deula climbing some fifty-five metres above the plain. Built largely in the eleventh century, it enshrines Shiva as Lingaraja, the King of Lingas.
Uniquely, the self-manifested linga here is worshipped as Harihara — Shiva and Vishnu as one — and honoured with offerings sacred to both, so that Shaivas and Vaishnavas alike revere it. The temple stands beside the great Bindusagar tank, whose waters are held to gather every sacred river. Adorned with exquisite sculpture and still the living heart of Bhubaneswar's devotion, Lingaraja is among the supreme temples of eastern India.
At Lingaraja in Bhubaneswar the deity is worshipped as Harihara — Shiva and Vishnu in one form — and both tulsi and bilva are offered together.
Source: Lingaraj Temple administration, Odisha
