Category: Historic

Chausath Yogini Temple (Hirapur)

Hirapur’s Chausath Yogini Temple (64-Yogini Temple), also known as Mahamaya Temple, is 20 kilometers from Bhubaneswar, the state capital of Odisha in Eastern India. It is dedicated to the worship of the yoginis, goddess-like beings who are considered auspicious.

The aspect of Religious:

The yogini temple in Hirapur is a tantric shrine with hypaethral (roofless) construction because tantric prayer rituals include worshipping the bhumandala (environment made up of all five elements of nature – fire, water, earth, air, and ether) and yoginis who are thought to be capable of flight. The yogini idols depict female figures standing on the heads of animals, monsters, or humans, symbolizing Shakti’s victory (Feminine power). Rage, grief, pleasure, joy, desire, and happiness are all expressed by the idols. In Hindu mythology, the number 64 appears in various forms, such as Klá for time, Kal for performing arts, and so on. Yogini temples can also be found in Ranipur-Jharial in Odisha’s Balangir region, as well as seven other locations in India.

History:
Queen Hiradevi of the Bramha dynasty is thought to have built the temple in the 9th century. According to local priests, the Goddess Durga took the form of 64 demi-goddesses to slay a demon at the temple. The 64 goddesses, who are equated with yoginis, begged Durga to build a temple in their honor after the battle. The Archaeological Survey of India now looks after the temple complex. Kalapahad, a 16th-century Muslim general who converted to Christianity, is said to have stormed this temple and destroyed the Murtis. He is infamous for destroying the temples of Puri and Konark.

Architecture:

The temple is modest and circular, with a diameter of only 25 feet. It’s hypaethral and made of sandstone pieces. The circular wall includes niches on the inside, each containing a Goddess statue. Sixty-six of the sixty-four black stone idols have survived. They encircle the temple’s primary figure, Goddess Kali, who stands atop a human head, symbolizing the triumph of the heart over the mind. According to some historians, the Chandi Mandapa once housed a Maha Bhairava idol. The temple appears to be built on a mandala layout, with concentric circles forming around a Shiva in the inner sanctum, who is encircled on all sides by four Yoginis and four Bhairavas. The temple’s plan has the shape of a yoni-pedestal for a Shiva lingam, with the circle accessible via a projecting entrance tunnel. Standing goddesses and their animal carriages are shown in the Yogini pictures (vahana). The Yoginis are completely naked except for their bejeweled girdles, from which hang thin skirts that serve as light ornamentation on their legs; they wear bracelets, armlets, necklaces, and anklets. The yogini images are 40 cm tall and made of dark chlorite rock, standing in various poses on plinths or vahanas, their animal vehicles; most have “delicate features and sensual bodies with slender waists, broad hips, and high, round breasts,” with varying hairstyles and body ornaments, according to scholar István Keul.

Ratnagiri

Ratnagiri (Odia: meaning “hill of jewels”) is the location of a ruined maha vihara, which was once the most important Buddhist monastery in modern Odisha, India. It is located in the Jajpur district on a hill between the Brahmani and Birupa rivers. It is close to other Buddhist sites in the area, including Lalitagiri and Udayagiri, and is 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Bhubaneswar, the state capital, and 70 kilometers from Cuttack, the former state capital.
The Buddhist monuments were built starting in the 5th century CE and ending in the 13th century, with the peak era of activity being during the 7th and 10th centuries. The site was abandoned after the 16th century, and it is now in ruins. These were little known until the 1960s, when the Archaeological Survey of India (“ASI”) conducted significant excavation projects, revealing the site and unearthing large quantities of very excellent sculptures. “The finest in terms of carved stone decoration to have survived in India,” according to Monastery 1. Some of it was relocated to other museums, but much of it remained on site. A museum has recently opened at the location to hold many of the pieces.
Three quadrangular monasteries, as well as a spectacular stupa (Stupa 1) encircled by hundreds of smaller stupas of varied sizes, were the key elements (Monasteries 1 to 3). Monastery 1 is the largest, with a stunning carved doorway, a large open courtyard, cells, and verandahs facing the courtyard, and a great shrine centered on a giant Buddha.
The buildings are mostly made of brick (much of which has since been removed), but the doorways, pillars, and sculptures are mostly made of two different types of stone that contrast nicely. A “blue-green chlorite and the local khondalite, a garniferous gneiss with plum-colored overtones” are involved. The majority of the stone sculptures unearthed at the site, together with a few (27) metal and brass figurines, are of the “Post-Gupta” style, with the earlier ones maintaining the classic form of Gupta art. The images are large of Buddha and the Buddhist pantheon, and examination of the topic patterns over time reveals that Ratnagiri, like Nalanda in Bihar, became a center of Tantric Buddhism. Over two dozen enormous Buddha heads, in particular, have been discovered.

Bhima Dunguri

Bhima Dunguri is attributed to a particular place on the tourist map of the Balangir district as its magnificent natural abundance and beauty are surrounded by evergreen forests. Bhima Dunguri is famous for its ancient natural caves scattered in different parts of the hill area. In the spring season, the spectacular view of the region is unique and therefore, so any kind of tourist is surely mesmerized by the beautiful landscape here.

The locals here celebrate Girigovardhan Puja in the month of Kartik Purnima with much pomp and gaiety every year. On this auspicious occasion, a fair and a sikartana are organized simultaneously. Bhima Dunguri is just 28 km away Balangir is situated far away from the city under the Blocks of Devgaon. A good all-weather motorable road connected to this place from Balangir city is also. This is an excellent place for visitors coming on the weekend. Proper Hotels, Circuit Houses, IBs are available in Balangir city.

Barabati Fort

The Barabati Fort is the thirteenth century fort. It built by the rulers of the East Ganga dynasty in Cuttack, Odisha, India. The ruins of the fort are built with its ditch, gate and mud mound of the nine – story palace, refreshing the memories of the past. Today, it is located next to the modern Barabati Stadium which is a place for various sports events and cultural events. The presiding deity of the city farther than the fort is also a temple dedicated to cuttack candi. Now, the old Gadakhai  plans to develop boating facility and a world class tourist destination with world class parks.  The work of restoring of gadkhai is in progress.

LOCATION:

It is located on the head of the delta formed by the Mahanadi River in the north and its distribution at the central point of the ridge about 8 km from the Centre of the ridge. In the south the story duo is located at an elevation of 14.62 m from the sea level.

HISTORY:

Scholars have given different opinions regarding the date of construction of the Barabati fort. The Madalpanji, the Jagannath temple chronicle narrates an interesting story that follows.

King Anangbhim Dev III of East Ganga dynasty lived in his capital square Choudwar (1211-1238), one day he crossed the Mahanadi and came to the south. Here he saw in the Barabati village in the Ko-danda circle that a heron had jumped a hawk near the god Visweswara. This surprised the king and the foundation for the construction of the fort was laid on an auspicious day and the village was named Barbati Cuttack. And then they left the Choudwar and lived in Cuttack and made it their capital.

 In 1568 AD, the city fell into the hands of the Karrains of Bengal, then in 1576 the Mughal Empire and again in the hands of the Maratha Empire in 1741. Cuttack, along with the rest of Odisha, came under the British rule in 1803.In 1919 the Bengal – Nagpur Railways joined from madras (Chennai ) and Calcutta (Kolkata).It became the capital of the newly formed state of Odisha in 1936 and remained the same till 1948 when capital was shifted to Bhubaneswar. In 1989 this city completed one thousand years of its existence.

During the rule of Muslims and Marathas, this remained the capital of Odisha On October 1803, the British army took over the Barabati fort and became a prison for the capture of many of the glorious rulers of the country. In 1818 the king of Kujunga, the king of Suragaja was kept in a severe prison with the members of his family. Apart from this, vandalism was intensified to destroy the fort in the early stages of British rule.

ARCHTECTURE:

 It is spread over an area of 102 acres and is surrounded by a 10m stone hard trench on all sides, Width 20m on the northern and western sides, Width in the eastern and southern sides.The entire fort wall is missing except the entrance. In view of its national significance since 1915, this site has been declared as a guarded site by the archaeological Survey of India. There was a high mound with a tank on the western side at the center of the fort. It is spread over 15/16 acre area. Now there is widespread encroachment on the site.On the east of the mound is the imperial mosque, while on the west of the pond is the center of Hajrat Ali Aukhari.

In 1989, the Archaeological Survey of India carried out digging to find out the cultural horizon of the historical fort and work is still in progress.The archaeological survey of India taken out on December 1, 1989 showed evidence of a castle, a rectangular structure made of the Khondalite stone.It was prepared in an area that had been carefully filled with sand and lime mixture at a depth of 5 meters. The trenches excavated in the eastern part of the structure show that 32 pillars are made of literate blocks, which are different in size but broad but square.

The remains of a temple have been found in the north – east corner of the mound. Digging the eastern and southern portions of the mound revealed the existence of a citadel made up of laterite blocks

The ruins of the old Barabati fort are located on the right bank of Mahanadi on the western side of the city. All the remains of the fort are an arched entrance and a mud mound of the nine – story palace. Archaeology surveys show that the fort was more rectangular in structure than 102 acres (0.41 km 2) and was surrounded by a wall of sandstone and laterite.There is a tank in the west of the mound. The remains of a temple in the north -eastern corner of the mound. The temple was built of sandstone on the foundation of laterite blocks. By now, around four hundred pieces of mouldings and some mutilated pieces of sculpture have been recovered.

This temple of the Ganga with a stone – idol of Lord Jagannath is in ruins. As late as 1719 A mosques built by Nawab Murshid Quli Khan, the governor of Emperor Aurangzeb, still remains present.