more Temples in Bhubaneshwar

We came back to Siddhi Madap from the 64 Yogini Temple,



and our fruitless attempt to find another guest house, hot and tired enough to nap for a while.

Voices outside the door woke Roxanne. Krishna, whose room was just opposite ours, had made the aquaintance of Raj, the young man who ran the mandap. They'd talked about the temples we'd seen and discussed the Lingaraja Temple, perhaps the best known in the city, and the only one off-limits to non-Indians. It turned out that a close friend of Raj's was a cook at the temple. Krishana had an idea. If Raj couldn't get me and Roxanne into the temple, could he perhaps get us temple prasadam?

Raj and his friend were happy to. A short while later someone came and carefully cleaned the marble deck between the two rooms. We were told to sit on the floor, and banana leaves were placed in front of us. The prasad , mixed dal and vegetables, excellent rice (aged ten years!), and coconut chutney with fresh pineapple, was brought over in the round pots in which it was cooked



and served on the banana leaves. I think it was the best meal we had on our whole jourrney.

Later that evening the two young men took us to a nearby temple, Mukteshwar , which, like the food, was the best yet. The intricate bas relief sculptures were pretty much intact, and such stories they told!



We returned late at night, when the engagement party was already winding down, to another meal prepared by the temple cook, just as good as the earlier one. Extraordinary.