Rajarani Temple, Rajarani Temple in Bhubaneswar | Odisha Tourism | Things to do in Rajarani Temple Places to visit near Rajarani Temple

Rajarani Temple is an 11th-century Hindu temple located in Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha (Orissa previously), India. The temple is believed to have been known originally as Indreswara. It is locally known as a "love temple" because of the erotic carvings of women and couples in the temple. Rajarani Temple is built in the pancharatha style on a raised platform with two structures: a central shrine called the vimana (sanctum) with a bada (curvilinear spire) over its roof rising to a height of 18 m (59 ft), and a viewing hall called jagamohana with a pyramidal roof. The temple was constructed of dull red and yellow sandstone locally called "Rajarani".

There are no images inside the sanctum, and hence it is not associated with a specific sect of Hinduism but broadly classified as Saivite based on the niches. There are various sculptures in the walls around the temple, and the vimana[clarification needed], depicting scenes of the marriage of Shiva, Nataraja, Parvati, and include tall, slender, sophisticated nayikas[clarification needed] in various roles and moods such as turning her head from an emaciated ascetic, fondling her child, holding a branch of tree, attending to her toilet, looking into a mirror, taking off her anklet, caressing her pet bird and playing a musical instrument.

The Orissan temples have two parts namely the sanctum (deul or vimana) and the other is place from where pilgrims view the sanctum (called jagamohana). The initial deul temples were without the jagamohana as seen in some of the older temples in Bhubaneswar while the later temples had two additional structures namely nata-mandapa and bhoga-mandapa. The vimana is square in plan, and the walls are variegated by ressaults(called rathas or pagas).Amalaka, a stone disk with ridges on the rim, is placed over the bada (tower) of the temple. Rajarani Temple stands on a raised platform. The temple was constructed of dull red and yellow sandstone.