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 martial glory. The images of Lokanath, Isanesvara, Parsunath, Dhabalesvara, Laxmi-Nrusimha amd Tapasvi Hanumaan are present here.
You have to sacrifice the feeling of lust while entering through this gate.
Western Gate/Tiger Gate/Vyaghra Dwara
Tiger is the symbol of DHARMA. The Dharma is an important philosophy in the Hindu Religion. In each and every moment to have to adhere with your Dharma.The deities present here are Ramesvara, Nisa Nrusimha and Birabikram Hanumaan.
Northern Gate/Elephant Gate/Hasti Dwara
The Hastidwara or the Elephant Gate had on each side a colossal figure of elephant, which is said to have been disfigured during the Muslim inroads.Subsequently, these figures were repaired and plastered with mortar and placed at the northern gate of the inner enclosure (Kurma Bedha). The images of Lokanath, Isanesvara, Parsunath, Dhabalesvara, Laxmi-Nrusimha amd Tapasvi Hanumaan are present here.
These are the four ways by which one can reach The Lord of Universe. The doors are names after the animals because of their symbolic representation at the door.
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...
Khalakatapatna is situated on the left bank of the river Kushabhadra and was a port town of the Ganga dynasty (12th and 14th centuries AD). The excavations at Khalkatapatna (IAR 1984–85: 56–60), took place at the site between 1984–85 and 1994–95, brought to light a brick jelly floor, which might have served as a loading and unloading platform. Chinese Celadon ware, Chinese porcelain with blue floral design on white background and egg-white glazed ware, besides glazed 6 chocolate ware of Arabian origin and dark grey and red slipped ware of indigenous origin pottery were recovered from the excavations. The shapes include bowls, basins, vases and miniature pots and all are wheel turned. The other antiquities include arecanut-shaped beads of terracotta, fragments of bangle of glass and copper, terracotta animal figurines, a miniature copper bowl and one complete and one fragment of Chinese copper coin datable to the14th century AD. The circular copper coin has a square perforation ...
I travelled a lot. Even don't know how many kms I travelled and how many monuments and archaeological sites I covered. From Baleswar to Brahmapur, from Puri to Angul, from Prachi Valley to Daya Valley and Mahanadi valley, I covered most of them. During my journey, I used to get information from local natives of that particular area and I was surprised by seeing some minor but important cults. Among them Ekapada cult really impressed me. So let us have a look on this Ekapada cult. During my research on this specific cult I got to know about various names like Ekapada, Aja-ekapada etc. Also this form is popular in several countries. Sometimes, they are associated with good fortune and sometimes they are representation of evil. The below figure I got from a research article published by Prachi Virag Sontakke. Also in the same research paper, I got another fig which shows the development of this cult, which is as follows: This is really fascinating to me that ...
Northern Gate/Elephant Gate/Hasti Dwara represents like _____?
ReplyDeleteJust like DHARMA ,KAMA,MOKSHYA.