The ancient capital of the Kalinga
empire, and now the capital of Orissa, Bhubaneswar's history goes back over
2000 years. "Bhubaneshwar" means the "abode of God" or "master
of the universe" and it was also, once known as the 'Cathedral of the
East', on account of the large number of shrines. At one time, the Bindu
Sagar tank was bordered by over 7000 temples. Of these, 500 still survive,
all built in the extravagant Oriya style. It is of these temples, that the
great poet, Rabindranath Tagore had once said - 'At all places where the eye
rests, and also at places where the eye does not rest, the busy chisel of
the artist has worked incessantly. The abode of god has been enveloped by a
variety of figures depicting the good and the evil, the great as well as the
insignificant, the daily occurrences of human life....'
The
People
Since primeval days various people have inhabited the land of Orissa. The
initial homesteaders of Orissa were primitive hill tribes like Saora or
Sabar from the Mahabharata days. Most of the tribal people have been induced
by Hindus and have embraced Hindu bearings, customs and ceremonies. Bonda
Parajas of Koraput district is the foremost example of these tribes.
These tribes are not at all touched by neoteric edification and thus the
tribal traditions have been left flawless through the ages. Each tribal
group has its own distinct language, culture, religion and social customs.
Orissa is the state with 3rd highest centering of tribals with almost 62
tribes existing in the city today. The tribal population is located mainly
in the Korapur, Phulbani, Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj districts.
The regional language of the city is Oriya belonging to Aryan family of
languages and is closely associated to Assamese, Bengali and Maithili.
Culture of Orrisa
Bhubaneswar holds an opulent artistic tradition, which enjoyed reform
custom from the temples. Land of adroit artists and craftsmen, still retain
their nativity and continuously trying to purge it to suit a changing
milieu.
The rich Orissa culture is also depicted in its glowing traditional Odissi
Dance. The intricate and elegant hand, feet and facial movements are all the
additional charms of the dance. The dance features Jayadev's "Gita
Govinda" the 12th century epic that deals with stories representing
Krishna's love for Radha expressing both divine and passionate emotions in
the dance drama. In olden days the dance was a form of devotion and was
performed in the temples as a tribal offering to the Gods.
"Chaitghoda", the traditional dance of fishermen shows rich
cultural heritage and is performed by using a dummy horse depicting the
battle drama called "Pari ka Nritya".
Other folk and tribal dances include Danda Nata a dance drama showing
acrobatic charms in which dancers perform balancing acts on bamboo stilts.
Chhah-masked dance is performed during festivals.
Pilgriamage
Attractions of Bhuvaneshwar
- Temples
Most of the temples are located near the Bindu-sarovara Tank, which
is about two km south of the city center. Lingaraja and Vital Duel
Temples are located west of the tank. Parasumaresvara and Muktesvara
temples are east of the tank. The Rajrani and Brahmesvara Temples
are a ten to fifteen-minutes walk east of the Muktesvara Temple.
- Lingaraja
Temple (11th century)
The presiding deity is the svayambhu linga, Hari-Hara Linga,
which is half Siva and half Vishnu. He is also named
Tribhuvaneswara, the Lord of the three worlds. The linga of
Lingaraja, or Krittivasas, is an uncarved block of granite 8
feet in diameter raised 8 inches above the ground. The Siva
linga is bathed daily with water, milk and bhang. There are many
other deities in the temple. In the northeast corner of the
temple there is a deity of Parvati.
- Muktesvara
Temple
 Built
in the 10th century, this small elegant temple has been
described as the most exquisitely ornamented temple in
Bhubaneswar. It has an 11m (35 feet) high tower. The sandstone
carvings are the most notable feature of this temple. It is also
known for its ornamental gateway, carved dwarves, and intricate
motif carvings of a smiling lion, adorned with beaded tassels in
its mouth. Muktesvara means the Lord who bestows freedom through
yoga. The Siddeswara Temple is on the same grounds and has a
Ganesh deity.
The small Marichi Kund, between the Mukesvara Temple and the
road, is known to cure infertility in women. It is a pleasant
place to sit for awhile.
- Parasurameswara Temple
This temple is the oldest Siva temple in Bhubaneswar, built in
the late 7th century. There are many intricate carvings on this
temple. It is close to the Bhubaneswar to Puri road, on the east
side of Bindu-sarovara, northeast of the Lingaraja temple. It is
the best preserved and most impressive of Bhubaneswar's early
temples. It has interesting carvings of elephant and horse
processions and intricately carved windows. In the corner of the
countryard is the Sahasra-linga, which is 1000 small lingas
joined together.
- Raj Rani Temple
The Raj Rani Temple (11th century), which is surrounded by a
nice garden is no longer used for worship. This temple was
dedicated to Lord Brahma and is known for its well-carved tower.
It is about a km east of the main road. It is one of the later
Bhubaneswar temples.
Around the temple are carvings of the eight dikpalas (temple
guards), who protect the temple from the different directions.
They are eight important demigods. They are Indra (east) the
head of the demigods, Agni (southeast) god of fire, Yamaraja
(south) god of death, Nirritti (southwest), Varuna(west) god of
water, Vayu (northwest) god of air, Kubera(north) god of wealth,
and Isana (northeast).
- Brahmeshwara Temple
This temple was built around 1050 and is a Siva-linga temple
with active worship. It is known for its intricately carved
sculptures. The main tower is over 18m high. It is about a km
east of the main road, a good walk from the Raj Rani Temple. On
the north wall of the porch is a carving of Laksmi.
- Vaital Deul Temple
This interesting 8th century temple is dedicated to Chamunda
(Kali). She wears a necklace of skulls and is shown as the
eight-armed slayer of the buffalo demon. Her necklace of skulls
and the corpse she is sitting on are usually hidden by her
robes. In her arms she holds a snake, a bow, a shield, a
trident, a thunderbolt and an arrow with which she is piercing
the neck of the demon, thus displaying the most terrifying
aspect of the goddess Kali.
This temple is close to Bindu Sagar, and it has some intricate
exterior carvings. To get a good view of the temple's interior,
a flashlight (torch) is needed.
- ISKCON Temple
The beautifully built ISKCON temple (413-517) is located on
National Highway No.5, Nayapali. The Deities in the temple are
Krishna Balaram, Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra, and
Gaura-Nitai. There is also a new Radha-Krishna temple. Srila
Prabhupada laid the cornerstone for this temple in February
1977, and it was finished in 1992.
There is a small guesthouse here with rooms that have attached
bathrooms. These rooms are not always available, but they are
quite nice if you can get one. To stay here you have to follow
the ashram rules. There is a fairly basic vegetarian restaurant
here.
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