SSC
Which city is known as the 'Temple City of India'?
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Answer: Option B — Bhubaneswar
Detailed Solution
Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, is known as the "Temple City of India".
Why Bhubaneswar is called the Temple City:
It is believed that the area once had about 7,000 temples around the sacred Bindu Sagar lake. Today, several hundred temples still survive, built mostly between the 7th and 13th centuries.
It was known in ancient times as "Ekamra Kshetra" ("the land of the mango tree"), a sacred place dedicated to Lord Shiva.
Its temples are built in the "Kalinga" style of architecture, which has two main parts:
- "Deula" (or "rekha deula"): the main sanctum with a tall, curving tower (shikhara).
- "Jagamohana": the hall in front of the sanctum.
Famous temples include:
Lingaraja Temple: the largest and most important temple of Bhubaneswar, dedicated to Lord Harihara (a combined form of Shiva and Vishnu). It was built mainly in the 11th century, under the Somavamshi dynasty.
Mukteswara Temple (10th century): called the "Gem of Odisha architecture", famous for its carved stone arch ("torana").
Rajarani Temple (11th century): known as the "love temple" for its sculptures; it has no deity.
Parasurameswara Temple (7th century): one of the oldest surviving temples.
Ananta Vasudeva Temple: dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
About Bhubaneswar:
It replaced Cuttack as the capital of Odisha in 1948. The new city was planned by the German architect Otto Königsberger.
It has the Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves (Jain caves of the 2nd-1st century BCE) and the Dhauli Peace Pagoda (near the site of the Kalinga War) nearby.
It hosted matches of the Men's Hockey World Cup in 2018 and 2023 (with Rourkela in 2023).
The "Golden Triangle" of Odisha tourism includes Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konark.
Other city nicknames:
- Madurai: the "City of Jasmine", famous for the Meenakshi Temple.
- Varanasi: "Spiritual Capital of India" and "City of Lights".
- Puri: famous for the Jagannath Temple and Rath Yatra.
- Kanchipuram: "City of a Thousand Temples".
Why not the other options?
- ✗Madurai is famous for the Meenakshi Temple.
- ✗Varanasi is called the "Spiritual Capital of India".
- ✗Puri is known for the Jagannath Temple.
Quick tip
Remember: "Temple City of India" = Bhubaneswar (Lingaraja, Mukteswara, Rajarani temples; Kalinga style; "Ekamra Kshetra"; capital of Odisha since 1948); Kanchipuram = "City of a Thousand Temples".
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Monuments & Religious Places — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Monuments & Religious Places, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's important monuments, temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and pilgrimage sites, who built them and when, their architectural styles, and India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Questions ask who built a monument, where it is located, or which dynasty or style it belongs to. For example, the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, and the Sun Temple at Konark was built by the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. Revise the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a list, noting the most recent additions. Practise the monuments and religious places questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.