Sisupalgarh, the name itself means a lot. The remains of the ancient city Sisupalgarh has been discovered near Bhubaneswar, capital of the Odisha, state in India. And truly, I am fortunate enough to live in the city. I try to find various things regarding Sisupalgarh and to my surprise this monument or rather say city, is one of the most preserved city in the world. The excavations of Sisupalgarh took place in various phases. The first excavations at the site were carried out by Mr.B.B. Lal in 1948.On the basis of the architectural pattern and artefacts discovered during the excavations, Mr.B.B.Lal concluded that this fort city flourished between 3rd century BC and 4th century AD. An American-Indian team took up work in 2001. In 2005 ground penetrating radar revealed the probable position of the southern moat.On the basis of the new findings, Miss Monica L. Smith and Mr.R.K. Mohanty claim that the fortified city flourished from around 5th century BC and probably lasted well after the 4th century. Thus, this defensive settlement originated prior to the Mauryan empire. Pillars of Sisupalgarh
The construction of Sisupalgarh was based on JalaDurga(WaterFort) concept, which in odia is known as GadaKhai concept. JalaDurga is a type of durga or fort, which must be situated within water body, and its access is rendered difficult on account of the typical tract. It is divided into two categories, viz., the Anterdvipa (Island fort) and the Sthala durga (Land fort). Antardvipa-durga (island fortress)is surrounded by natural (sea or river) water bodies. Sthala-durga (plain fortress)is surrounded by artificial moats or irrigated by a river. This may be assumed that Sisupalgarh was based on SthalaDurga concept, as we can also find remains of River Gandhawati, which is now famous as Gangua nala. Remains of River Gandhawati
They also have a planned drainage system. Its really surprising that when urbanisation and planning was not taken place in full fledged form, the planners of Sisupalgarh, develop such kind of design. Drainage system outside the boundary of Fort
The pillars of Sisupalgarh really attracted lots of enthusiastic mind. But, what were the specific uses of these are still not clear. Some room type structues were discovered adjacent to those pillars, during the excavation. source:R.K. Mohanty et al., Man and Environment XXXIV(1): 47–56 [2009].stone pillars of Sisupalgarh
Till now Eighteen stone pillars were excavated, and a lot is there to excavate. Kindly note the body of pillar is plain.
While travelling into the city, I found a small settlement of some people. Near their settlement, a small pond is available. Small pond
From this small pond, at that time, some antiquities were found but they were lost now. A special type of pillar were recovered from this pond by these persons and due to the typical structure of that pillar, they are worshipping it now, as a Shiva Linga. Worshipping of pillar as a Shiva Linga
Inside the city you will get another small pond. This pond is famous as RaniGadhua, or the pond where the Queen used to bath. RaniGadhua
This RaniGadhua is almost dried up now. The typical things I found there was a well and a boundary of a small tank. Well and boundary of small tank
When you closely look at the boundary of that tank, you will observed the peculiar images of elephants, which were also found in lots of temples and other heritage places. Elephant carvings on the boundary of tank
The steps that lead us to the RaniGadhua also have a small temple like structure. It may signifies that, after bath, queen did some small puja remembring her IshtaDeva or IshtaDevi. Steps of Ranigadhua
The other side wall also have structures similar to the old Kalingan Architecture. Structures similar to old Kalingan Architecture
Various gates were also discovered during the excavations. It is known that this fortified city had eight numbers of gates. Two gates pierce each of the glacis of the quadrangular plan. A glacis is an artificial slope as part of a castle or fortresses. Gates of Sisupalgarh
Sisupalgarh’s defences are the highest known of this period in India. The ancient settlement probably was not dense, but rather there was room inside the fortress to graze. Gates of SisupalgarhSteps of gates of SisupalgarhModel of sisupalgarh in Odisha state Museum, Bhubaneswar
The population of the city could have amounted to 20,000 to 25,000. Archaeologists have employed geophysical survey, systematic surface collections and selected excavations in the 4.8 km perimeter of the fortified area and studied individual houses and civic as well as domestic architecture to arrive at the figure. The significance of the population is clear when one bears in mind that the population of classical Athens was 10,000. However the historians also claim that it is too early to comment on the population of the city as yet only a part of the city has been excavated. Scene during excavation (source:Telegraph)
Now a days, due to the negligence of state government, ASI and Odisha tourism this world known heritage city is under the threat of Land Mafia. According to a survey by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1947–48, the area was spread over 562.68 acres of land, but today only 0.77 acres of this entire land remain under the ASI’s control. More than 1,000 buildings are constructed inside the fort area, violating norms of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2010. This clearly shows that there has been no action taken by the state and ASI authorities to stop the illegal activities. Illegal encroachments in SisupalgarhIllegal encraochements of the well
Illegal encroachments can be seen by land mafias in the area. Since 2002, yearly satellite images document the illegal house building especially in the north-western quarter which increased in tempo since 2010. Encroachment starts with the staking out of lots. Gradually, building materials is piled up. Foundation walls are laid. Then suddenly the house is erected as soon as possible before the officials can react. Since 2010 the developers have begun to build into the southern city wall and the officials seem to do nothing to counter this. Illegal buildingss near the pillarsIllegal building near the pillarsIllegal boundary near the pillars
This is very intresting place. Our historians identified this place with Toshali and Kalinga Nagara. Kalinga Nagara was the famous capital city of King Kharavela. The Hati Gumpha (Elephant Cave) inscription of Udayagiri in Bhubaneswar points towards this fact.
A small video clip on Sisupalgarh during the excavation.
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
It feels really very exciting when you make reading and travelling your hobby. And believe me then only you will be able to co relate the things. One fine day, I was reading a pdf file of Odisha Govt. and I came to know about a place called Kuruma, an ancient Buddhist site. I decided to go to that place to explore more. This site is located 8.6 kms to the south-east of the famous Sun Temple at Konark in the district of Puri, Odisha. First, you have to go to famous Sun Temple Konarka. From there you just move on to Balidokan, which is just 7.3 km on Konarka-Kakatpur road. From Balidokan square, just turn left to go to Kuruma, which is 1.3 km from there. The Dharma Pokhari or the Pond of Dharma is located nearby the site. Prior to this excavation, a stone slab containing the beautiful figure of Buddha was lying on the bank of this tank. Later on, this image was replaced and enshrined in a newly built shed. Besides the Buddha image, other two images were
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