Rudreswar Temple

The Rudreswar Temple, or Devalaya, stands in Rudreswar village on the north bank of the Brahmaputra at North Guwahati. The Ahom king Pramatta Singha built it in 1749 to honour his father, Swargadeo Rudra Singha, on the spot where his father had died, and installed a Shiva linga named Rudreswar after him; the village took its name from the temple. The king appointed priests and gave a large area of land for its upkeep.

The temple combines Ahom and Mughal architecture and copies the form of a Mughal mausoleum. Underground chambers entered from the front were probably used to store food and supplies, and the shrine holding the linga sits above them, with drainage and ventilation built in. A brick wall once enclosed the temple, and two Ahom stone inscriptions from it are now in a museum. Nearby is the Konwari Pukhuri, a pond said to have been used by the queens and princesses for bathing.