Right next to the Lakshmana Temple but separated from it by the enclosure fence, Matangesvara is the only temple in the Western Group still in everyday use and lots of Indian tourists come here to make puja (offerings or prayers). It may be the plainest temple here (suggesting an early construction), but inside it sports a polished 2.5m-high lingam (phallic symbol of Shiva).
From its platform you get an eye-level view of the upper levels of the Lakshmana Temple, and can also peer into an open-air storage facility for hundreds of undisplayed temple sculptures.
