Dat­ing back to 10th cen­tu­ry this tem­ple marks an impor­tant tran­si­tion point between the ear­ly and the lat­er phas­es of the Kalin­ga archi­tec­ture. The high­light is the mag­nif­i­cent torana: the dec­o­ra­tive gate­way, an arched mas­ter­piece, rem­i­nis­cent of Bud­dhist influ­ence in Odisha. This tem­ple is con­sid­ered to be the gem of Odis­han archi­tec­ture. Muk­teswara means Lord of free­dom. The Tem­ple com­plex also hous­es the sid­dhes­vara Tem­ple.