Historical places in Odisha, India

This article first appeared in My Travelogue by Bhushavali

I was in Odisha for a weeklong trip and ofcourse, as usual it was not enough! I saw some of Odisha and there's so much more left for me to see. Odisha is so important historically that the 3 major religions of Indian origin - Hinduism, Buddhism & Jainism has had a stronghold here at various point in history and today, this state is filled with historic monuments pertaining to all 3 religions and I managed to see some of those!

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Hinduism: Puri Jagannath Temple as well as Bhubaneshwar Lingaraja Temple are very well known, and I did visit them too, I found them way too crowded for me to 'experience' the place. But I did go on a huge network of smaller temples scattered all over Bhubaneshwar and around. My first stop was the very tiny Taleswara temple, on my way to Ananta Vasudev Temple. What's unbelievable is that these were built in 6th-8th C CE, making them 1400yrs old!!!! There are around 7-8 temples just around this area at a very short walking distance from each other including Uttareswara Deul, twin temples of Sari deul & Sukasari deul, Chitrakarini Deul, Daiteswara Deul, Vaital Deul and Parameswara Deul. 2 things that need special mention are the sculptural intricacy (the detailing on stone is so minute) and the 'bhoga' - food offering to God at Ananta Vasudev (its so aromatic & so yummy and you can see it getting prepared!)!!! Infact one of the window jaali of Parameswara Temple is made of human figures! I've never seen one like this!

A bit away from the centre, at Hirapur, is the Chausat Yogini temple which is quite intriguing and unusual compared to the rest! Its a circular temple with the 64 yoginis sculpted along the perimeter. This is a bit more of a tantric temple, when compared to the other main stream temples in the city. Then I was back in the city for Brahmeswara Temple and finally by end of Day 2, as the sun was setting, my last stop was the twin temples of Muktesvara and Siddhesvara. Mukteswara temple is considered the 'Gem of Orissan Architecture'. This was built in 970 CE and the most beautiful aspect is the gorgeous arch called Torana. My 3rd day began with Raja Rani temple and by lunch, I was also done with Bhaskareswara Temple. So that's 2.5 days for all the temples of Bhubaneshwar.

Nature worship!!! Ofcourse Nature Worship, my 2nd half of 3rd day at the world famous Konark Sun Temple is dedicated to Lord Surya or the Sun God! This is a UNESCO Site and the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Odisha.
Like the typical Orissan architecture this too originally had the Nata mandira, Jagmohana and the towering Deula! The ruins of the towering Deula (perhaps the tallest when it stood) was existent in early 19th C CE, but nothing is there now! To protect the Jagmohana from crumbling, it was closed and filled with sand. Today it is possible to view it all and ideally I'd suggest an entire day here. You'd need half a day to just admire the sculptural marvel here!

Buddhism: My 4th day was dedicated to Lalitagiri, Ratnagiri, Udayagiri and Dhauli - the major Buddhists Sites of Odisha. The most important place is ofcourse Dhauli where expansive inscription of King Ashoka after the Kalinga War (near Bhubaneswar). 3 other sites are close to each other - Lalitagiri, Ratnagiri, Udayagiri. These were Buddhist monasteries from 2nd C CE onwards. One of it is atop a tiny hillock and the view is splendid indeed! There's also a small on-site museum.

Jainism: My 5th day was to Jainism in Odisha. There are 2 major sites - Udayagiri & Khandagiri, located opposite to each other. No, this Udayagiri is different from the Buddhist Udayagiri. These are rock-cut, excavated temples built in 1st C BCE – 1st C CE. Udayagiri has 18 caves while Khandagiri has 15 caves. Some caves have inscriptions, some have gorgeous miniature carvings, some are under worship, some are slightly ruined, some are in 2-tiers, but all of it are fantabulous!

Historical places in Odisha, India

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