Majhighariani Temple is an important Devi shrine in Odisha’s Rayagada municipality. It was built by King Vishwanath Dev Gajapati of the Nandapur – Jeypore kingdom’s Suryavansh dynasty. He is thought to have made Rayagada his capital, and with the goddess’s blessings and the construction of the temple, he went on to conquer a wide domain and expand his reign from Bengal to Telangana in the south. Many people travel from Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha to visit the shrine. The tale claims that Devi has been revered for millennia, despite the fact that the temple is relatively recent. The temple attracts a huge throng from the surrounding area every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. In October, Dussehra is celebrated, while Chaitra Parva is celebrated in March–April. Rayagada is the closest rail station. People who have unfulfilled wishes come here to worship and stay for several days.
History :
“In the fourteenth century, Suryavanshi monarch Viswanath Dev Gajapati chose Rayagada as his capital and transferred his headquarters from Nandapur,” according to the Odisha District Gazetteer. On the banks of the Nagavali, he built a fort, the remnants of which can still be seen. He erected the temple of Majhighariani deity within this fort. Viswanath Gajapati also built a chain of temples along the river Nagavali, as well as the temple of Majhi Ghariani in the midst of his palace, which was afterward raised at the same location. As a result, he is known as Majhi Ghariani, or the one who sits in the center of the room. The temple’s building (the one we see today) is just about forty years old.
Previously, the temple was housed within the Vishwanath fortification. The British, on the other hand, demolished the castle in order to construct a bridge across the river Nagavali using large stones that were scarce in the area.
