Marichi Temple, Ajodhya

Marichi Temple in Ajodhya, Baleswar district, Odisha, serves both Hindu and Buddhist worship. It stands 9 km north of Sajanagada, on the right of the road from Nilagiri towards Mayurbhanj. The building itself is new, a pidha vimana like other Odishan temples, but it shelters many tantric, Jain and Buddhist images from the late 11th century, thought to have been commissioned under the Somavamsi Keshari dynasty.

Among the old icons are a four-handed Varahi, a Buddha in the earth-touching bhumisparsa mudra, a Jain tirthankara and the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. The central image is worshipped as Durga, and beside it stands the Mahayana goddess Marici, flanked by two goddesses; the sanctum holds three late 11th-century icons in all. Durga Puja is the temple's main festival.