Some Early Jagannath Temples of Western Orissa

Written by Pabitra Mohan Barik is a lecturer in History,S.H.Mahavidyalaya, Madanpur, Khurda

Jagannath, the Lord of the Universe, who is worshipped at Puri is the supreme deity of the Hindu Community. Puri the sacred city of Orissa is well known for the great temple of Lord

Jagannath. Shree Jagannath is heartily loved and respected by all . Jagannath culture influences every sphere of life in Orissa, whether it is political, social, cultural, religious or economic. Puri the seat of Lord Jagannath is the greatest religious centre of India. . There are a number of Jagannath temples in various parts of Orissa.

Jagannath Temples in Western Orissa :-

Jagannath temple at Brahmapura village near Patnagarh town of Balangir district is one of ancient temples of Orissa. Ramai Deo, the founder of Chauhan dynasty of Balangir-Patna kingdom in the 14th century constructed this Jagannath temple. This temple symbolizes the spread of Jagannath culture in Western Orissa. Ramai Deo, the first Chauhan ruler of Balangir-Patna installed the images of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra, which he took from Puri. Ramai Deo also took thirteen Brahmana families from Viraja Kshetra, who were engaged in the Seva Puja of the deities. Ramai Deo granted them two villages named Hirapur and Chandanbhati for the maintenance of the temple. Those Brahmana families are living in Brahmapura village till now.

There are number of Jagannath temples in Sambalpur town, which were constructed by Balabhadra Deva, the third Chauhan ruler of Sambalpur kingdom. Brahmapura temple situated in the heart of the Sambalpur town is one of them, where he has installed the images of the Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra in the sanctum. The temple observes all rituals of Jagannath culture. Spiritual scripture Adhyatmya Ramayana was translated into Oriya verses by poet Gopal Telenga under the patronage of Maharaja Ajit Singh of Sambalpur (1726-42 A.D.). Another important early Jagannath temple in Sambalpur is in the Gopalji Matha, popular for its religious activities. Bansigopal, the third son of Madhukar Deva, the fourth Chauhan ruler of Sambalpur became a great Vaisnava and founded the Gopalji Matha in the Sambalpur town on the bank of the Mahanadi. There he spent his whole life as its firstMahanta. He had constructed two temples in this Matha complex, one is Gopalji temple and the other is Jagannath temple.

The Dadhivaman temple at Bhatli of Bargarh district is famous as Jagannath is worshipped as Dadhivaman here. Bhatli is an old village, where, according to tradition the temple of Dadhivaman was built by a rich merchant named Paramananda Sahu. At the time of Car Festival thousands of people congregate here to worship the Lord. The time of construction of the temple of Dadhivaman at Bhatli may be the 18th century. Anangabhima III, the Ganga ruler had constructed many Jagannath temples in Bargarh area after the conquest of western Orissa by his ablest general Vishnu Acharya around 1220 A.D. Anangabhima Deva had granted lands for the running of those temples. He had granted land with a total area of 52.36 acres in village Deshkumhari in Bargarh district. He had granted certain land with a total area of 78 acres in the village Tamparsara, also in Baragarh district as an endowment for the temple of Dadhivamana of that village. The Dadhivamana temple located at Tamparsara is the oldest in Western Orissa.

Sonepur, the head-quarter of Suvarnapur district is famous for its temple culture. It is situated on the confluence of the rivers Tel and Mahanadi. There are many temples in and around this historic town. It is known as the temple city of western Orissa. The Jagannath temple at Sonepur town stands near by the damaged royal palace on the bank of the Mahanadi. Also it is believed that Lord Jagannath idols were kept in Sonepur when Kalapahada attack temples in coastal orissa

Another ancient Jagannath temple of western Orissa is situated at Junagarh in Kalahandi district which is called Dadhivaman temple. Junagarh was the old capital of Nagavamsi kings of Kalahandi. The Dadhivaman temple at Junagarh is existing there since 1718 A.D. as an important centre of Jagannath Culture.

These early Jagannath temples of western Orissa were constructed by the kings of various

dynasties ruling this part of Orissa in the mediaeval period to spread far and wide the inner ideology and philosophy of Jagannath culture.

National Seminar on Creation of New States in India with specific reference to Kosalanchal

8th July, 2012 : at 9.30 am., Sambalpur (KOSAL)

Minister of State for Home Affairs Jitendra Singh in a statement in parliament on 15th May, 2012 said, “Creation of any new state has wide ramifications and direct bearing on the federal polity of our country. The Government of India moves in the matter only when there is a broad consensus in the parent state itself”.

This statement is ridiculous. For example will Naveen Pattnaik ever agree to carve out Kosalanchal

from Odisha ? Will his ministers and his coterie will move such a proposal in the state assembly ?

Jitendra Singh further said in his statement, “the Government of India has received a number of

demands and representations from time to time from various individuals and organizations for creation of new states. But the Government takes a decision on the matter of formation of new states after taking into consideration all relevant factors”.

This statement could also mean that the centre is still not too enthusiastic about new states

considering the situation in Andhra Pradesh where the demand for creating Telangana has virtually left India’s fourth largest state in tatters, both socially and politically.

On the backdrop of this a valid question may be raised as to whether there could be a second state

reorganization commission? If not at this stage will it be constituted only after hundreds and thousand crores of national property is ruined ? Today’s seminar should send a strong message to the center for constitution of a second state reorganization commission. This being the issue, the seminar should deliberate on whether there is a need for formation of a national level committee for creation of new states which will work as a pressure group and force the Government to act upon.

According to the Government, demand for separate state emanates from the perception that there is appreciable development deficit in comparison to mainstream areas of the state or appreciable short fall in development parameters. In such cases the centre will advise the state concerned to expedite development initiatives. This again is frivolous.

Development deficit or regional imbalance as we call it, is definitely ahead of other criteria for new

statehood but it is not the one and the only. There are several other criteria like cultural and linguistic differences that call for division for states. Over and above there is hegemony of one group over the other. For example in Odisha, Why do they not recognize the kosli language as the second official language of the state knowing fully well that more than one fourth of population speak and write in this language ? Why do they not teach the kosalites in their mother tongue ?

These are some of the points which immediately come to mind and perhaps to all of your minds as

well. There are many more points which may be raised in course of the seminar and deliberated upon.

I, therefore, look forward to an useful discussion on the issue and take this opportunity to implore your conscience and erudition in full form so that we wind up the day with a consensus and send the summary of the seminar to the appropriate agencies. I’m glad to say that, we’ve papers on subjects like regional imbalance in Odisha with special reference to Telangana, status of Health & Education in Western Odisha and the misery of tribal population in Kosalanchal. I once again hope the delegates will enjoy the day and fully participate in this historic seminar being organized by a fledgling political outfit i.e. Kosal Kranti Dal.

Baidyanath Mishra

Working President, KKD

Endless water journeys

Photo By- Satya P Nanda.   Courtesy -  Balangir Facebook Group

Original Article taken from DECCAN HERALD written by Sarada Lahangir

Twenty years after the UN conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, which recognised that the world needs to manage its water resources in a sustainable manner, and 10 years after the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights iterated that “the disproportionate burden women bear in the collection of water should be alleviated”, women continue in their endless trek for water the world over.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost one fifth of the world’s population (about 1.2 billion people) lives in areas where water is physically scarce. The unaccounted burden of water collection in such circumstances invariably falls on women.

Take Kasturi Pangi of Dumripadar village in Odisha’s tribal Koraput district. Despite being in her seventh month of pregnancy, she has to ferry a big pot of water on her head for at least a kilometre each time she goes for a refill. Says Pangi, “The water source is about half a kilometre away along the national highway, and every day I have to make at least three such trips to meet the family’s water requirements.”

The actual value of this effort is lost on her, as indeed her husband, Sarat Pangi, a construction worker. When asked about his wife’s daily scramble to collect water for the family, he casually mumbles, “She has to bring the water in time so that I can take a bath before I leave for work at 8 am.”

In Odisha, there are innumerable villages that have no committed source of water or have very poor water supply. According to Census 2011, around 35.4 per cent of families in the state have to travel long distances to fetch drinking water. A decade back this figure was 30.8 per cent. In other words, there has been an almost 5 per cent rise in the number of villages without adequate water during the summer. 

Some districts are worse off. Every second family in the tribal-dominated district of Kandhamal travels more than half a kilometre to fetch drinking water, while 50.4 per cent of houses are not near any source of drinking water. Kandhamal is, in fact, the worst affected among the state’s 30 districts. The data further reveals that in rural Odisha only 7.5 per cent households has access to tap water, while 19.8 per cent depends on wells and another 66.9 per cent uses tubewells.

The day starts early for these water carriers and things get particularly harrowing during the summer months. “When the river dries up under the hot summer sun, we women sometimes have to dig a hole on the river bed to access water. These holes are known as ‘chahalas’ and we have to wait for each one to fill up before we can scoop out more water,” explains Malati Bag of Kirakela village, in Nuapada, another water scare district in the state. 

Life is hardly easier for the women of Bolangir district which is, like the others, a tribal dominated one. Sabitri Tandi of Bangomunda block in Bolangir has to go to a water source about half a kilometre away from her home. Since she has to make three such trips a day in the searing heat, she ends up covering three to four kilometres every day.
What is generally not reported is the high price women pay for water collection in terms of their physical health. 

Jamuna Dharua, 23, from Bolangir, has a tragic story to relate, and this despite having a well in the premises of her home. Last year, she suffered a miscarriage while drawing water from the well. Recalls Dharua, “We have eight member families solely depend on that one well for all its domestic use and on an average, we have to draw at least 20 buckets of water from the well every day.

I was in my fourth month of my pregnancy during a time when the water level of the well had gone down to 15 ft deep because of dry summer conditions. While I was drawing water, I felt a mild pain in my lower abdomen that I overlooked. A few days later, I had a miscarriage and the doctor explained that bending over at the waist for a long time while drawing water from the well could be one of the factors for this.” Ironically today her sister-in-law, who is pregnant, spends much of her day drawing water from the well.

Dharua’s mother-in-law, Kalabati, 60, is quick to defend herself, “Our women are used to this kind of work and everyone does it — my ‘bohu’ (daughter-in-law) — is no exception. Jamuna’s miscarriage was an accident. I don’t keep well, so I cannot help these girls with such chores. So if my ‘bohu’ doesn’t do this work, who will? My sons?” 

Scarcity of water has other health implications as well. As summer wears on, the people of Bahadulki village of Rayagada district become dependent on the local stream for their daily needs and incidents of diarrhoea and cholera shoot up because the stream is contaminated by water from a nearby drain. Explains one woman who didn’t want to be named, “We are getting infections because of this water. When we get our periods, there is insufficient water to clean our clothes, and we end up with urinary infections.”

Explains Bhubaneswar-based social activist, Amrita Patel, who is familiar with women’s concerns in this region, “Generally, I have seen women in rural Odisha carry massive 15- or 20-litre aluminium pitchers full of water on their heads, while holding on to another 10- to 15-litre bucket full, and walking several kilometres. One hardly ever sees a man carrying even a small pitcher of water on his head! This is because, according to local social norms, getting water for domestic purposes like for drinking, bathing and cleaning is the sole responsibility of the women.”

What disturbs Patel is that public discussions on reducing the burden of women in terms of water collection only revolve around the need to reduce the distance to the source by provisioning a water source at an accessible location. While this is an important concern, she believes that the time has also come to break the norm that ensures that water collection is strictly seen as a woman’s task.

Ranjan Panda, Convenor, Water Initiatives Odisha, a voluntary organisation working on water issues, is worried about the future. Says he, “As the years go by, sources of drinking water are only going to get depleted, given our vanishing water bodies. This will make women even more vulnerable in the future. It is time that society becomes more sensitive to the issue. So far the government has never addressed it from a gender perspective.”