Anantashayana Vishnu, Saranga

At Saranga village in Dhenkanal district, a huge figure of Vishnu lies carved into the sandstone of the Brahmani River's left bank. It was made in the early 9th century under the Bhaumakara kings, whose Vaishnava feudatories are credited with the work, and at 15.4 metres long and 7 metres wide it is described as the largest exposed horizontal rock-cut image in India.

The four-armed god reclines on the serpent Ananta, whose hoods shelter his head, holding the chakra, conch, mace and lotus and wearing a tall crown. Brahma sits in meditation on a lotus rising from his navel, and the sculptor treated the riverbank itself as the cosmic ocean. The Archaeological Survey of India protects and maintains the relief, though Brahmani floods remain a threat to the sandstone, and local people still worship here. It lies about 3 km from Talcher, reached by road 1.5 km from Saranga village.