Pancharatha



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). 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).



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