Topic summary
Vishnupad Mandir
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Vishnupad Temple.
Architecture
This is believed that the temple was built with the footprints of Vishnu in the centre. In Hinduism, this footprint marks the act of Vishnu subduing Gayasur by placing his foot on his chest. Inside the Vishnupad Mandir, the 40 cm long footprint of Vishnu is imprinted in solid rock and surrounded by a silver plated basin. The height of this temple is 30 meters and it has 8 rows of beautifully carved pillars which support the pavilion. The temple is built of large gray granite blocks jointed with iron clamps. The octagonal shrine faces east. Its pyramidal tower rises up a 100 feet. The tower has sloping sides with alternately indented and plain sections. The sections are set at an angle to create a series of peaks joined at the top. Within the temple stands the immortal banyan tree Akshayavat where the final rituals for the dead takes place.