Kukutesvara Siva Temple

Kukutesvara Siva Temple is a small Shiva shrine at Tinimundia chowk in the old quarter of Bhubaneswar. It was built under the Somavamsi dynasty in about 975–1000 CE, though local legend links it with the Kesari dynasty. The temple faces east and is still in use, looked after by two priests, with Sankranti and abhisheka among the rites observed.

The square vimana, 2.1 m a side and 3.8 m high, is the old part, while the jagamohana in front is later. A low doorway, only 1.16 m high, opens into the sanctum, where a Shiva lingam rests on a round yonipitha, and the lintel shows the navagrahas seated on lotuses. Niches on the other three sides hold a four-armed Ganesha with prayer beads, a laddu and a knife on the south, Kartikeya with his peacock on the west, and a later image of Parvati on the north. The temple is in the Kalinga style, of fine-grained ochre sandstone laid in dry masonry.