Panch Pandav Temple in Puri Jagannath Temple Complex is the
combined name of five temples dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple gets the name
Panch Pandav as the temples were built by the Pandavas of the Mahabharata.
Legend has it that Pandavas – Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna,
Nakula and Sahadeva – during their one-year exile-in-disguise period in the Mahabharata
visited and stayed at Puri for a night. They worshipped Shiva by making
Shivlings. The five temples were built to commemorate their stay in the shrine.
The five Shiva temples are:
Lokanath
Markandeswara
Kapala mochana
Yameshwara and
Neelakantheswara.