ORISSA TOUR OF 5 DAYS

PART II

BHUBANESHWAR

Though I reached on the morning of 23rd February, Bhubaneshwar - I had darshan at Ram Mandir in the evening and then proceeded next Morning to Puri and was there for 3 days. On my return from Puri, I went to various places in Bhubaneshwar.  Also in the process, could see the PMG Chowk, turned into an Andolan Square with various posters and many of the shelters have not even been removed, though the andolan was over.   The day I was there, the women journalist had their protest.

                                                                         Ram Mandir

The Ram Mandir with a beautiful architecture is an addition to Bhubaneshwar Temples from 27th June 1979 by a private trust in Kharvel Nagar near Rajpath.  The evening ‘Aarti’ performed at Ram Mandir holds a special place in the hearts of the locals, who make it a point to witness it. On 23rd Feb, when I had gone for Darshan, Harikatha was going on and then arthi was done for the beautiful murthis of Ram, Sita and Lakshman and Anjaneya. There are separate sannidhis for Lord Ganesh, Lord Siva, Parvati, Panchamuki Hanuman, Karthikeya, Nandhi and Lord Krishna with consort Radha.  Lord Siva sannidhi also has Goddess Durga.  Pooja items shop is around the corridor of the temple. 
By the side of Ram Mandir compound, outside, there is a nameless shop serving tiffin all over the day.   Speciality in this shop is the Poori and sabji.   They also serve dosas and Dahi vada. 

On 27th after completion of tour of Puri, returned to Bhubaneshwar in the morning and straight went to the Lingaraj Temple for Darshan.   The Lingaraj temple is having a vimana of 180 ft height and is quite large to have other deities in the complex.  It was built by King Jajati Keshari in the 10th Century and completed by King Lalatendu Keshari in the 11th Century. There is a belief that the Swayambhu Shivalinga in the temple was worshiped even in the 7th century and believed to be of 8 feet in diameter and 8 inches tall. An architectural wonder, the Lingaraj Temple is the top tourist attraction of the city; however, it can only be visited by Hindus. Spread over a huge area, the temple complex also features 150 smaller shrines.  

Shiva spoke very high of Bhubaneshwar to Parvati - or Ekamra Thirtha as it was earlier known  -  She wanted to check that for herself and came here as a cowherd woman.  Two demons kritti and vasas followed her and asked her to marry them.  She asked them to carry her on their shoulders and crushed them.   Shiva here made the Bindu Sarovar to quench her thirst and himself came as Lord Lingaraj.

The Ganesha is in a standing posture and at an elevated platform and a few steps are to be ascended to have darshan.   There are separate sannidhis for Ramalinga, Kedarnath, Somnath, for 12 jyothirlings, Anjaneya, Jagannath, Vrushaba and  Parvati.

Chandan Yatra is a 21-day festival that begins on the auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya. During this festival, the idols of the deities are taken to the Bindu Sarovar and a procession is performed in the water in beautifully decorated narrow boats called Chapa.  The vigrahas are immersed in the Bindu Sarovar water and sandalwood paste applied.

The annual Car Festival or Rath Yatra of Lord Lingaraj is called as Ashokashtami. It is celebrated with much fervor on the eight day of Chaitra month (March/April) as per the Hindu calendar. During the festival, the idol of Lord Lingaraj is taken to the Rameswar Temple (also called as Mausi Maa Temple) in a decorated chariot. The idol of the deity is brought back to the Lingaraj Temple after four days, following a ritual bath at the Bindu Sarovar.   The Bindu Sarovar is situated to the north of the Lingaraj Temple. This lake is 700 ft wide and 1300 ft long. It becomes the focal point of the Chandan Yatra festival each year. A beautiful garden lies on the western bank of it, known as Ekamra Van.   A platform has been constructed for non- Hindus to see the temple from the outside.

I had darshan at Mukteshwara temple and Kedar Gauri temple which are adjacent and nearby Bindu Sagar.  In fact, the entrance of these temples are just 40metres apart, but the car parking is better before Kedar Gauri temple.  Built in the 10th century, the temple belongs to the Somavamshi Dynasty and is believed to be sculpted by Yayati I, Mukteshwara Temple has Kalinga style of architecture.  Entirely made out of red sandstone, this 35-feet temple is famous especially for its elaborately decorated arched-shaped gateway (locally known as Torana).  Its ‘shikara’ is decorated with carvings of four ‘natrajas’ with ‘kirthimukhas’.  On the outer face of the compound wall are niches containing a variety of divinities. These include Saraswati in sitting posture on a lotus with two female attendants by her side, Ganesa with mouse and Lakulisha, the fifth century founder of the Pashupata sect of tantric Shaivism, who is portrayed sitting cross-legged, with two miniature ascetic figures in the triangular side panels. The fact that these wall niches include Buddhist and Jain images as well as Shaivite ones attests that there had been inroads in the Orissan religious life, as in many parts of India.

Another major attraction of the temple that draws crowds in huge numbers is the Mukteswara Dance Festival, which is organized by Odisha Tourism, in the month of January every year.  The festival was first held in 1984. However, it has been organized continuously since 2004.

                                                                Mukteshwara Temple

Kedar Gowri Temple is to the south of Mukteshwara temple.  The presiding deity worshiped at Kedargowri temple is Lord Shiva known as Kedareshwar and the spire of this temple is of white colour.   The separate sannidhi of Parvati has the spire in red colour.  Apart from the main sannidhis, there are sannidhis for deities Lord Ganesha, four armed Karthikeya, Durga and Hanuman.  One festival celebrated with much fervor at Kedargauri Temple is Sital Sasthi. This festival celebrates the divine marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. It is celebrated every year in the month of May or June. On this day, a procession of Lord Shiva is carried out from the Lingaraj Temple till Kedargauri Temple, where his marriage with Goddess Parvati is conducted with rituals.  The temple premises houses two kunds, namely Khira Kund and Marichi Kund which are said to have sacred powers.  The Khira kund is believed to relieve devotees from the cycle of birth and death and Marichi Kund helps to come out of infertility.

Timings: 6 AM to 7 PM

Bindu Sarovar

Parvati felt very thirsty and to quench her thirst lord Siva struck his trident at this place, out of which a spring came out.  The waterbody is known as Bindu Sarovar.  Presently the lake is 1300 ft in length and 700 ft in width.  As per the legend, Lord Shiva expressed his preference for Bhubaneshwar, over Benares, in front of His consort, Goddess Parvati. She disguised Herself as a cowherd woman and went to look at the city. On the way, she met two demons, Kritti and Vasa, who expressed a wish to marry Her. She asked them to carry Her on their shoulders and when they did so, She crushed them under Her weight. It was at this time that Lord Shiva created the lake to quench Her thirst.

Rajarani temple -  The history of the Rajarani Temple dates back to the 11th century when it was built by lndraratha, a famous Somavamsi dynasty ruler. As per historians, earlier it was called as Indreswara Temple, supposedly named after Indraratha. However, there is another school of thought that indicates that the Indreswara was named after Lord Shiva. Although there is no presiding deity of this temple, there is a strong belief that it has connection to Shaivism.

Later on, the temple came to be known as Rajarani because of its color – yellow and red sandstone – that is locally known as Rajarani.  Presently, this place under the control of the Archeological Survey of India who collect a fee of Rs.20/- per individual.  A beautiful garden has come up and being maintained in this place.

On 27th February evening, I went to twin cave temples of Daulagiri-Khandagiri.  Khandagiri houses the Jain Temple.   Guhas can be seen in both the places.   Though there appears to be a few steps cut in the rock itself, there is a lot of climbing required, though it is only a small hillock.  Aged people will have to take care and for coming down there is a steep incline ramp made with both sides steel pipe structure throughout the incline.  Evening hours would be very pleasant and also one can have panoramic view of the city from this place.  Added is the presence of monkeys and there are people who give bananas to them to make them sit on your shoulders for a small sum and photos taken and given to you.  A monkey sat on floor and posed uninvited and a photo was taken by me.  There is an entrance fee of Rs.25/- and naturally it is under the control of Archeological Survey of India.

Later in the evening, I had been to the small but beautiful ISKON temple at Nayapalli, Bhubaneshwar built by Sri Gaur Govinda Swami, inaugurated in 1991 by Sri Nityananda Prabhu.  Padma Mandira, the lotus temple houses the idols of Sree Radha Gopinatha and Sree Gauranga Mahaprabhu.  There are three other altars in the temple that of Sri Krishna-Balaram, Sri Gaur Nitai, and Sri Jagannath, Sri Balaram and Subhadhra Devi.   The temple also includes Srila (Swami) Prabhupada’s ‘Bhajan Kutir’.   A ‘Brahmachari’ ashram complex has been built inside the premises that can accommodate up to 150 Brahmacharis. 

Bhajan was going on at the time I went to the temple and elaborate arthi darshan was there shortly.

A new building has come up on the Platform No.6 of the Bhubaneshwar Railway Station and the No.1 platform side requires a facelift.

The Secretariat of Bhubaneshwar

Biju Patnaik International Airport

There are a lot of shopping malls all over Rajpath near Karvel Nagar, and also smaller shops all put together in a place called Unit I, very near to Rajpath.  Many hotels are in around this place.  One can have a costlier hotel food or an affordable street food.  Vegetarian only hotels are few.  I was at Bhubaneshwar for two days out of the 6 days trip.   Part III deals with my tour of Konark and Satapada (Chilka Lake).