(From top) Chakreswar temple, drain water accumulated in the sanctum sanctorum of the Chakreswar, a recently-installed statue of Ganesha, a sculpture on the on the main door of the temple, a jammed drain that runs close to the temple. Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 18: Amid the narrow lanes and newly built lavish houses in and around Old Town in the Temple City, many age-old structures lie hidden, awaiting attention of tourists and conservators at the state archaeological department. The Chakreswar Shiva temple is an apt example of this.

The Chakreswar temple that is dated between the 10th and 11th century for its architectural features, is situated on Tankapani Road in the Hatiasuni lane near Rajarani Temple, which is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.

Social and cultural events and festivals like Shivaratri, Sankranti, thread ceremony and marriages are observed here. The temple stands on a low platform and today, mostly has renovated structures since it was repaired by the Orissa State Archaeology under the X and XI finance commission award. Recently, deities known as parsvadevatas have been structured on the exterior walls on all sides of the sanctum.

“I have seen the temple since my childhood when it was in a dilapidated condition. My parents were involved in clearing the heavy vegetation that had grown around the main structure,” said local resident Sarojini Behera. “The old stones were replaced by new ones at most places during the repairs,” she said.

The doorjambs of the Chakreswar temple are decorated with floral motifs with the image of a four armed Ganesha present at the centre of the top horizontal band of the entrance. The carved image of Navagrahas, however, has fallen prey to erosion and is not clearly visible anymore. “The Ganesha on the horizontal doorjamb is a special feature of this temple since usually, the image of Gajalaxmi is found in temples of Bhubaneswar,” said head of the department of archaeology at Utkal University, Sadashiba Pradhan.

Surrounded by private residential buildings on the eastern and northern sides, the temple is close to the Chakreswar tank, which is situated behind it. A resident of the Old Town area claims to be the owner of the temple and the tank and the small patch of pasture left around the temple. “Few years back, the tank was used by local people and was clean. But now it has become dirty,” said Sarojini.

Since the owner of the land sold off the surrounding land for private houses, the road that came up is at a higher level than that of the temple. The new drain flows into the tank, most of which has been filled to build houses. This leads to the flowing of most of the drain water inside the further low-lying sanctum sanctorum where the chief deity, a Shiva linga and metal snakes, are worshipped. “We clean the sanctorum and drain the water out. But it accumulates in few hours again. It would be good if authorities could create a proper drainage outlet that would keep the sanctorum free from effluence from the nearby jammed drain,” said another local resident Kabi Behera. He added that while festivals and rituals are held at the temple, people dump the rubbish around the temple. “This is an old monument can be preserved it if the devotees who come here take care of it,” he said.