Archaeologists from the Odisha State Museum have discovered the foundational ruins of a sandstone temple dating back to the 10th-century Somavamsi dynasty. Located in the rural outskirts of Cuttack, the site features an remarkably intact pabhaga (base) decorated with a series of rare Ashta-Vasu friezes—the eight elemental deities in Hindu cosmology—which is an iconographic rarity for this period in the region.
The excavation has also yielded several Parsvadevata idols, including a four-armed Vishnu and a finely carved Varaha. Experts suggest that the temple's architectural style serves as a critical evolutionary link between the earlier Bhauma-Kara structures and the later, more complex Kalinga style seen in the Lingaraj temple. Efforts are now underway to document the site using 3D photogrammetry before the local monsoon season begins.