Pancharatha

Drawing of a pancharatha building

A Hindu temple is a pancharatha when there are five ratha (on plan) or paga (on elevation) on the tower of the temple (generally a shikhara).[1] The rathas are vertical offset projection or facets. The name comes from the sanskrit Pancha (=five) and Ratha (=chariot), but the link with the concept of chariot is not clear.

There are also temples with three rathas (triratha), seven rathas (saptaratha) and nine rathas (navaratha).[1]

Triratha, Pancharatha and Saptaratha

Examples of pancharatha temples

  • Lingaraja Temple in Bhubaneswar
  • Lakshmana Temple in Khajuraho
  • Rajarani Temple in Bhubaneswar
  • Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha
  • Jagannath Temple in Baripada, Odisha
  • Jagannath Temple in Nayagarh, Odisha
  • Isanesvara Siva Temple in Bhubaneswar
  • Mukteswar Temple in Bhubaneswar
  • Brahmani temple in Baleswar, Odisha
Pancharatha temples
  • Isanesvara Siva Temple in Bhubaneswar
    Isanesvara Siva Temple in Bhubaneswar
  • Jagannath Temple in Baripada
    Jagannath Temple in Baripada
  • Lingaraja Temple in Bhubaneswar
    Lingaraja Temple in Bhubaneswar

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Temple Architecture of Orissa". Archived from the original on 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2012-10-05.

See also

  • Ratha (architecture)