Life of an explorer never ends. They continue to explore the new sites, with new monuments, with interesting inscriptions. Presenting a beautiful photo blog by Gitanjali Mohanty…
Seeing our enthusiasm at the Saptamatrika temple at Jajpur, the locals and elders gave us a tip-off. “Go along the river (Baitarani) and you’ll come to another almost-forgotten Shiv temple. Go there, you will like it”. Now that was all we needed. Off we went on the narrow narrow path along the river.
No sign of any temple. We kept on asking the villagers. Not much help. They kept pointing to newer temples. Finally we reached almost a dead-end. On one side the river bed and on the other, a small nondescript village. It was already noon time and it was scorching hot. We see a man coming home with his cows. We ask him “do you know where can we find the Siddheshwara temple?” He gives us a glance and nonchalantly replies” across the river bed and starts walking off” We ask “how to reach there”. He casually replies “ Walk across the hot sand river bed if you can and you’ll find the temple”
After a lil discussion, we decide to trudge on the hot sands.. The hot sands give way to a lovely cool and shaded Banyan-tree grove. Still no temple .. Does it even exist? We are starting to tire off… Just a few feet more and we are finally able to see it. Placed on a low-lying spot just adjacent to the Baitarani, it is one of the most atmospheric temple ever! People welcome to the ancient shrine of Siddheshwara Mahadev, Jajpur. The main temple has obviously been renovated later, yet we find remnants of its glorious past all over!
Not much is known about the temple. The locals were not of much help and I could hardly find anything on the net! It is difficult to date the inception of the shrine as recorded history of Jajpur offers no clue about it. Thought to date back to the 5th century CE, Jaipur then was the capital of the Bhauma dynasty. The making of the Lord Siddhesware linga and the inscriptions on the temple wall and on the nearby ruins evince the popular belief that the holy shrine was built by Shri Subhakar Dev II of Bhauma dynasty. The adjacent village Hirapur is also believed to have been named after Hira Devi, the queen of Sri Subhakaar Dev II. Historian Dr. Ekadashi Padhi opine that it was Shri Narasingha Dev who renovated the temple and restored it from ruins.
It is a treasure house of Hindu temple Iconography. One of the major highlights for me was the “Stambha” at the entrance which appeared very unique to me.. Adorned with beautiful “Naga-kanyas”, it bears invaluable inscription in proto-Odia script. With 2 Sahasralingas, an Astika-Jaratkaru with snake goddess Manasa Devi, an Ekpada Bhairav, this place just does something to you!
Siddheshwara Mahadev Temple, Jajpur. Siddheswara TempleA stupa in front of templeA stone pillar in front of templeNaga-Kanya along with the inscriptionSahasralingaLord BishnuLord GaneshaAstika-Jaratkaru with snake goddess Manasa DeviSun GodAn iconic panel with Shiba in Nataraja pose and Nakulisha
Naga
Standing Sun GodEkapada BhairabaRiver Baitarani
All images along with the write up belongs to Gitanjali Mohanty.
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...
The outer wall of Lord Jagannath Temple has gates openings for the devotees in the four direction. These four gates are represented by the four animals. In the east there is lion and hence called lion’s gate or sinhadwar. In the west there is tiger hence tiger’s gate or Vyaghradwar. In the north, there is elephant and hence called as elephant’s gate or Hastidwar. In the south, there is horse and hence horse’s gate or ashvadwar. Eastern Gate/Lion’s Gate/Simha Dwara The two lions statues are there in this gate in the crouching position. The lion is a symbolic representation of MOKSHYA. Hence is is popularly said that if you enter in the temple through this gate, you will get mokshya. The deities present in simhadwar are Kasi Biswanath, Goudia Nrusimha and Bhagya Hanumaan. Southern Gate/Horse Gate/Aswa Dwara The horses symbolically represent the KAMA or lust. There are two galloping horses with Jagannath and Balabhadra on their back in the ma...
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