India Guide
Orissa
Brahmesvara Mandir
Address: Eastern group of templesPrice: free
Unlike most of its neighbours, the eleventh-century shrine within Brahmesvara Mandir still houses a living deity, as indicated by the saffron pennant flying from the top of the sanctuary. Dikpalas preside over the corners, with a fierce Chamunda on the western facade (shown astride a corpse and holding a trident and severed head), while curvaceous maidens admire themselves in mirrors or dally with their male consorts.
An inscription, now lost, records that one Queen Kovalavati once made a donation of "many beautiful women" to this temple, recalling that devadasis, the dancers-cum-prostitutes who were to become a prominent feature of Orissan temple life in later years, made an early appearance here. Non-Hindus are barred from the central shrine – whose majestic Nandi bull has testicles well polished by years of propitious rubbing from worshippers.