I travelled to this lesser known area near about three years back. The attached map shown below is the route from Cuttack to Maniabandha via Banki. Alternatively you can also go to Maniabandha via Athagarh from Cuttack.
Route map
The village Maniabandha is named with combination of two words i.e. ‘Mani+Buddha’ and ‘Mani+Bandha’ which later transform as Maniabandha. This small village took my attention not because of famous IKAT handlooms but due to Buddhism. There are as many as temples of Buddha exists. Locals tell me that lots of temples are also there burried in the Earth.
Temple no.1
Temple no.2
Temple no.3
Temple no.4
Temple no.5
Temple no.6
Temple no.7
Temple no.8
Temple no.9
Temple no. 10
Temple no.11 (Buddha Vihar)
Temple no.12 (Naga Gumpha or Naga Cave)
Temple no.13
View from Naga Gumpha or Naga Cave
Entrance of Naga Gumpha or Naga Cave
The celebration of Buddha Jayanti festival in the village with pump and ceremony in presence of tourists/saint of foreign countries like- Japan, Sri Lanka,Tibet, Indonesia, Korea etc who are very often seen in the village, is regarded as the most important festival. The procession of Lord Buddha on an artificial decorated white elephant with the exact replica of Santistupa of Dhaulli and Ashokan pillar is so heart touching that a human is compelled to praise the artist voluntarily and missing a chance to see it is of course is the greatest unhappiness is one’s life.
An Ashokan Pillar in the Village
Hieun Tsang, famous Chinese traveller made popular this village in world history by mentioning its name and its expertise to produce beautiful handlooms during his visit. Due to this effect, nearby places are also having traces of Buddhism like Bindhani maa, Bhattarika and most importantly Banesvarnasi.
In this blog, I specifically omit the famous handloom of Manibandha as it is well known, but certainly, the relation of this small village (having 8000 population) with Buddhism holds a special status in my heart.
Thanks….
Khambeswari temple, Aska. PC: Debashish Dash https://twitter.com/TheDashDD Goddess Khambhesvari is originally an tribal Goddess worshipped by the tribes of hinterland Odisha. In course of time She was like many other tribal deities given a place in the Hindu pantheon and subsequently she was transformed from a nomadic cult to Shakti cult. Khambhesvari, the Goddess of the Post or Pillar is one of the famous formless autochthonous deities widely worshipped in the hill tracts of Bargarh, Sambalpur, Angul, Dhenkanal, Bolangir, Subarnapur, Boudh, Kalahandi and the Ganjam districts of Odisha. She is worshipped as a manifestation of Shakti in the form of wooden posts or pillars and also through stones. Legends: Khambeswari temple--Aska An interesting legend about the temple in Aska says that once Goddess Khambhesvari appeared in a dream before Khambamuni who lived in the forest and desired that she should be worshipped by the latter. As per the stipulation of Khambamun...
Chamunda is a fearsome aspect of Shakti, also known as chamundi, chamundeswari and charchika. She is one of the Saptamatruka or seven divine Goddesses. She is also one of the chief Joginis, a group of sixty-four or eighty-one Tantric goddesses. According to legend, Chamunda appeared from the frown of the benign goddess Parvati to kill demons Chanda and Munda. Here, Chamunda is viewed as a form of Parvati. Matsaya Purana tells a different story of Chamunda’s origins. She with other matrikas was created by Shiva to help him kill the demon Andhakasura, who has an ability — like Raktabija — to generate from his dripping blood. Chamunda with the other matrikas drinks the blood of the demon ultimately helping Shiva kill him. Ratnakara, in his text Haravijaya, also describes this feature of Chamunda, but solely credits Chamunda, not the other matrikas of sipping the blood of Andhaka. Having drunk the blood, Chamunda’s complexion changed to blood-red. The text further says that Chamund...
Almost two years back, I went to this place. Its name attracted me. Why such a peculiar name. Chudanga Gada. Chudanga Gada was earlier known as Saranga Gada. The site can also be approached from Bhubaneswar through the Bhubanesvar-Cuttack road via Nandankanan and Baranga. From Baranga one has to negotiate a distance of 1.5 km north of Sitaram chowk to reach the site that is situated on the right bank of the river Prachi. I reached the site at 10 o’clock. Legends As per the Madalapanji, the fort was built by Lalatendu Kesari of Kesari dynasty (Somavamsis) when it was known as Sarangagarh, because the area had large number of water bodies filled with lotus and in Sanskrit, Saranga means lotus. Later on Baraha Kesari renovated the fort, which was captured by Ganga king Chodaganga Deva after defeating Karna Deva, the last ruler of the Somavamsi dynasty in 1110 AD. There after the fort of Sarangagada became known as Chudangagada after the name of the victor Anantavar...
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