Pancharatha Explained

A Hindu temple is a pancharatha when there are five ratha (on plan) or paga (on elevation) on the tower of the temple (generally a shikhara).^[1] The rathas are vertical offset projection or facets. The name comes from the sanskrit Pancha (=five) and Ratha (=chariot), but the link with the concept of chariot is not clear.

There are also temples with three rathas (triratha), seven rathas (saptaratha) and nine rathas (navaratha).^[1]

Examples of pancharatha temples

• Lingaraja Temple in Bhubaneswar
• Lakshmana Temple in Khajuraho
• Rajarani Temple in Bhubaneswar
• Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha
• Jagannath Temple in Baripada, Odisha
• Jagannath Temple in Nayagarh, Odisha
• Isanesvara Siva Temple in Bhubaneswar
• Mukteswar Temple in Bhubaneswar
• Brahmani temple in Baleswar, Odisha

Notes

1. Web site: Temple Architecture of Orissa . 2012-10-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121013100126/http://tourism.oriyaonline.com/temple_architecture.html . 2012-10-13 . dead .

See also

• Ratha (architecture)