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Location: Hampi Deity: Shiva Creator: Vijayanagar rulers Completed: 19th century Famous for: Erotic carving on the Gopuram. Style: North Indian nagra style and Dravidian Vimana shaili. The Virupaksha Temple is located on the banks of the Tungabhadra river at Hampi. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The temple is abode to one of the forms of Lord Shiva called Virupaksha Which means 'being divine ' or ' Rudra' . History:   The temple was built by Sri Krishnadevaraya but the temple was commissioned by Lakkan Dandesha who was the chieftain of Deva Raya ll of the Vijaynagar empire under the Vijaynagar rulers, in the middle of the 14th century there began a flowering of native art and culture. Most of the marvelous structures and creations were destroyed by Muslim Invaders in 16th century. In 19th century there were major renovations and additions which included ceiling painting and the towers. Architecture: The temple was influenced by the kailash parvat which is considere...

Location: Madurai, Tamil Nadu.                        Deity: Meenakshi ( Parvati ) Sundareswar     ( Shiva ) .                                                                  Built by: Pandyan King in 6th century  Temple's height : 52m.                                        Specialities: Ayirakkal ( 1,000 pillar hall ) ,kilikoondu- Mandapam, Golu- Mandapam and pudu- Mandapam . Architectural Style: Dravidian  The famous temple is Located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River in Madurai. The temple has a great mythological and historical significance. It is believed that Lord Shiva assumed the form of Sundareswar and married parvati ( ...

Location: Chhatarpur, MP                                  Deity:  Lord vishnu                                                Buitt By:  Chandella ruler between AD 900 and 1130.                                                   Famous for:  Nagara style architecture and erotic sculptures. The famous Khajuraho Temples of Madhya Pradesh (MP) designated as UNESCO world Heritage site in 1956 is located in Chhatarpur district. The Temple are considered among the finest examples of Indian temple art. ( The Map of the Khajuraho Temples ) History:  The Khajuraho group of temples built in Nagara style arechitecture between the 10th and 12th centuri...

Location: Lepakshi, Anantapur State: Andhra Pradesh ( AP ) Deity: Veerbhadra Type: Dravidian architecture Famous for: Hanging pillar, mural paintings Lepakshi is a village in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. The famous Veerbhadra temple that dates back to 1583 is located here. History: The Veerbhadra swami Temple was built in 1530bc. by two brothers Virupanna Nayaka & Viranna. They were both governor in the Vijayanagar kingdom. They blamed by others for using royal treasury. The King give orders for taking off his eyes. Disturbed by false allegation , he threw his eyes onto the walls of the temple. Hence the place got it's name Lape- Akshi meaning the village of the blinded. The interesting fact is the temple wall still has the blood marks of the eyes.        ( Blood stain of the Virupanna's eyes ) Architecture: The architecture of the temple reflects the Vijayanagar style and the beauty of the temple is fine carvings & arts. The temple can be divided in...

Location: Greater Kolkata, West Bengal. Deity: Goddess Kali Creator: Rani Rasmoni Completed:  1855 Style: Navaratna Type: Bengal architecture Famous for:  Association with Ramkrishna A land of myths stories and intriguing temples. Even in this is age of modernization if one thing has remained ethernal is love of life, painting and Gods. One of the marvelous temple is Dakhineswar Kali Temple. Located on the banks of river hoogly. A three-storied structure bulit in the early 19th century. History:  The story behind the temple is quite interesting. It is said that a devotee of Goddess Kali ordered the construction of the temple after she appeared in the dream. Asking the founder ( Rani Rasmoni ) to cancel the trip to Varanasi. Architecture: The temple compound, apart from the nine-spired main temple , contains a large courtyard surrounding the temple with the rooms along the boundary walls. There are 12 shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva, a temple to Radhakrishna, a shrines to ...