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ODISHA REVIEW

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VOL. LXXVIII NO.2-3 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER - 2021

BISHNUPADA SETHI, I.A.S.

Principal Secretary

INDRAMANI TRIPATHY, O.A.S (SS)

Director

DR. LENIN MOHANTYEditor

The Odisha Review aims at disseminating knowledge and information concerning Odisha’ssocio-economic development, art and culture. Views, records, statistics and informationpublished in the Odisha Review are not necessarily those of the Government of Odisha.

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CONTENTS

Ripples of Pandemic in Bishnupada Sethi's Dr. Provakar Palaka ... xviiiBeyond Here and Other Poems Ms. Anjali

Images of Mahisamardini Durga in Odisha : Balabhadra Ghadai ... 1An Iconographic Study

Advent of Darubrahma Shree Jagannatha Dr. Bhaskar Mishra ... 5in Purushottama Kshetra

Gandhi and Environment Jayanta Kumar Das ... 9

Olive Ridley Turtle : The Curiosity of World Prof. Prafulla Kumar Mohanty ... 12and Pride of Odisha

O Durga Maa Dr. Jashaswini Mishra ... 22

The Truth and Vitality of Gandhism Er. Raghunath Patra ... 23

Birthplace of Gopabandhu Hansanath Muduli ... 24

Parbati Giri, the Fire Maiden of Odisha Dr. Bhubaneswar Pradhan ... 25

Tokyo Victory In Hockey : Prabhudutt Dash ... 26An Odishan Noble Gesture

Cappuccino Dr. Sonali Mohapatra ... 27

Forms and Places of Worship Dr. Pramod Kumar Mohanty ... 28at Colonial Cuttack

Saktism during Bhaumakaras Period Bharati Pal ... 40

Durga Puja in the Prominent Jyoti Naik ... 42Sakti Pithas of Odisha

National Wildlife Week Dr. Manas Ranjan Senapati ... 46

Scientific View of Indian Tantric Culture Dr. Ramakanta Kar ... 48

To My Ganesha Elora Pradhan ... 50

Myths, Facts and Controversies Associated Sudhansu Sekhar Rath ... 51with the Sun Temple of Konark

Goddess Biraja and Her Chariot Festival Subhashree Mishra ... 69

Progress of Bee Keeping in Odisha Prof. Bishnu Charan Jena ... 71

Salute to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Dr. Bidya Bhusan Mohanty ... 74

Management of Major Diseases and Dr. N. Ranasingh ... 79Insect Pest Complex in Arhar Dr. U.K. Behera

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Odisha Review ISSN 0970-8669

Mahatma Gandhi2.10.1869 - 30.01.1948

BIRTHDAY TRIBUTES

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ISSN 0970-8669 Odisha Review

Lal Bahadur Shastri02.10.1904 - 11.01.1966

BIRTHDAY TRIBUTES

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel31.10.1875 - 15.12.1950

Jaya Prakash Narayan11.10.1902 - 08.10.1979

Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das09.10.1877 - 17.06.1928

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Our Sincere Obeisance ....

Baji Rout(Shot dead on 11.10.1938)

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The Prelude

Learning from implementation of poverty alleviation initiatives reveal that participation of women in theprocess of development has resulted in the creation of a socially vibrant grassroots process and moreimportantly with the women identifying with the process as their own. This aids half of the nation'spopulation to participate as active subjects in the development process and acquire the necessary skillsthrough experiential learning. This results in the rediscovering and redefining of their selves, redesigningtheir organization and has started the process of rethinking on reasons for being poor.

Mission Shakti (2001-2021)

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It is well-established that women's micro and small scale enterprises can provide an opportunity toaccelerate general levels of economic activity and at the same time promote a more equitable distributionof development benefits. For effective execution, Self Help Groups (SHGs) created with the objectiveof eradicating poverty by developing a supplementary credit delivery mechanism must evolve through aprocess of sustainability.

The setting-up of the Self Help Mission under the Mission Shakti brand aims at looking into the day today management functions of SHGs and their multi-tiered federations dedicated to capacity building ofwomen, facilitating & monitoring their activities and providing the much needed techno-managerialsupport. This would create a system that would sustain itself even long after the external support mechanismis withdrawn.

Objectives, Goals & Approach of the Mission

Facilitation of creation of conducive environment and expansion of self-help movement, developmentof quality SHG in the state, strengthening the quality of existing SHGs in the state, building clusterfederations at block,district & state levels,institutional capacitybuilding, skilling &capacity building atevery level in the state,development of built-inmonitoring system rightfrom SHG level, settingup a supportive MIS atevery level andconvergence with nodalagencies responsible foroverall SHGstrengthening processare the key objectives ofthe Mission.

The goals of the Mission are to (a) develop a client-managed, client-controlled and client-owned micro-finance federation, (b) enlist the number of SHGs, cluster/federation & grade them into categories C, Band A as per criteria fixed by the Mission, (c) create a benchmark of the SHGs, cluster/federation forfuture impact assessment, (d) create a resource team in each district, (e) develop capacity buildingmaterial for all levels, (f) create conducive environment in the districts so as to involve maximum numberof women in the SHG movement, (g) establish sustainable social intermediation between Government/ Non Government Organizations & SHG members, and (h) develop MIS for effective monitoring.

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The Mission's approach would be (a) strengthening the socioeconomic base through creation of assetsand social & economic benefits, (b) increasing awareness for cooperation and greater equity for alarger attitudinal change, (c) improvement of general social consciousness, leading to socioeconomicempowerment which forms the base for self-respect and dignity of life, (d) creating a system for continuedeffort for empowering women through an appropriate self-help movement and (e) setting up appropriatemonitoring system for measuring progress of goal achievement.

The Inception: 2001

Mission Shakti was launched on 8th March 2001 by Hon'ble Chief Minister of Odisha to empowerwomen by organizing them into Self Help Groups. The brainchild of Hon'ble Chief MinisterShri Naveen Patnaik, it has now turned into a Silent Revolution transforming the lives of women, theirfamilies and the spaces they inhabit. All these SHGs started with small savings, many of them evencontributing handful of rice to the group kitty. Today they have scaled up their business portfolios andhave investment profiles and turnover in lakhs. The annual credit off take is nearly Rs. 2000 crore andtheir cumulative savings nearly Rs. 6000 cr.

Mission Shakti was formed under Women & Child Development Department in 2001 and it startedwith an objective of forming two lakh groups in two years. By 2009, more than 40 lakh women wereorganized into 3.72 lakh groups across Odisha. The major focus was on organizing women in SHGs in

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rural as well as urban areas, and developing the SHG platform as a key medium for capacity buildingprogrammes. For all livelihood programmes, SHG was officially adopted as the grassroot level unit ofimplementation.

For greater reach and efficiency of women empowerment focused initiatives, a separate Directorate ofMission Shakti was created in the Department of Women & Child Development in April 2017. TheDepartment itself was renamed the Department of Women and Child Development and Mission Shakti.

The Directorate looks after the Mission Shakti activities of Self Help Groups and its Federations. Forstrengthening WSHGs, different initiatives such as micro credit support, seed money, financial assistanceto Block Level Federations (BLF) and Drudgery Reduction support was taken up. Currently MissionShakti has 70 lakh women organized into 6 lakh Self Help Groups covering all habitations acrossOdisha.

Formation of a separate department namely Department of Mission Shakti comprising of all governmentprogrammes of SHGs under one wing has been declared by the Hon'ble Chief Minister on his addresson 8th March 2021. Department of Mission Shakti will go a long way in strengthening the SHG initiativesalready undertaken by different departments & agencies and bring it all under one platform providinggreater focus, synergy & avoiding duplication of activities.

SHG and Institution building

Mission Shakti SHGs are homogenous informal groups of 10 to 15 women per group, voluntarilyformed, having an impulse towards collective action for a common cause and conveniently save whateveramount they can, out of their earning and mutually agree to contribute to a common fund of the group tobe lent to the members on rotational basis for meeting their production and emergent credit needs.

Institution building is a major dimension under Mission Shakti and represents organizations and inculcatedvalues to achieve the goals and objectives of Mission Shakti. This is mainly concerned with the promotionof strong and viable multi-tiered institutions and collectives for women empowerment in Odisha.Strengthening of SHGs and its institutions to spearhead women empowerment initiatives of Governmentof Odisha at the grassroot level is a key area of focus. Further it supports promotion of higher levelinstitutions/collectives of women SHGs such as at Gram Panchayat Level Federations (GPLFs) at theGram Panchayat level, Block Level Federations (BLFs) at the ICDS Project level and District LevelFederations (DLFs) at District level. These federations function as autonomous community institutionsfor the holistic development of SHGs. Mission Shakti also works towards promotion of producers'groups to give impetus to livelihood interventions through collective approach.

Mission Shakti focuses on quality management of those institutions through wide range of supportinghands at different level ranging from the Sub District to the State level. Under 'Mission Shakti' banner,in total 8005 Federations were constituted at panchayat, block, district and state levels.

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Unique Livelihood Convergence Models:

The uniqueness of the Odisha Model of SHG development is the convergence of women'sentrepreneurship with Government Programmes. In its first meeting on 29th May 2019, the Cabinetapproved a proposal to tie up women SHGs with different Department initiatives for provisioning ofgovernment services and procurement of goods in a structured manner amounting to Rs.5,000 croreover five years. Such convergence aims at deepening the engagement of lakhs of women with Governmentprogrammes at the grassroot level, ensuring last mile delivery of services while providing additional andsustainable livelihood opportunities to women SHGs. This epoch-making decision has led to uniqueand sustainable livelihood convergence models empowering WSHGs.

Mission Shakti today is an unparalleled story of women's empowerment.

SHGs are involved in diverse activities in convergence with different departments. like online paddyprocurement using Paddy Procurement Automation System (P-PAS), pisciculture in long term leasedGP Tanks, combating malnutrition through decentralized system of production & supply of Take HomeRation (THR), Management of MDM, management of Aahaar Kendras ensuring food security of thepoor, manufacturing LED bulb, electricity meter reading & billing, civil construction, producing pickleto brass utensils, dry fruits, wood crafts, ready to eat foods, modern appliqués etc. Over last two yearsGovernment business worth more than Rs.3500 cr have been provided to Mission Shakti SHGs and itsFederations across the State.

Financial Inclusion: SHG Bank Credit Linkage, Mission State Interest Subvention Scheme& Financial Literacy

Facilitation of bank credit linkage to SHGs for nurturing women entrepreneurship is a key objective ofMission Shakti. The annual bank credit linkage to SHGs amounting to more than Rs.4000 cr supportslivelihood diversification, income generation and personal consumption in case of exigencies.

To reduce the interest burden and encourage SHGs to invest more capital in livelihood activities, loansupto Rs. 3 lakh is provided to SHGs under 'Mission Shakti Loan' at 0% annual rate of interest onprompt and regular repayment. State interest subvention scheme aims at accelerating the SHG banklinkage programme, promoting livelihood diversification, nurturing sustainable banking practices amongwomen and rewarding responsible loan repaying SHGs with proportionate reimbursement of interestmaking the effective bank credit annual rate of interest 0%. Department of Mission Shakti has so farsettled interest subvention claims amounting to Rs. 257 cr benefitting more than 4 lakh SHGs towardsreimbursement of interest paid against bank loans. The interest burden leveraged, acts as a catalyst forSHGs towards taking up new challenges for setting up / scaling up enterprises thereby furtherstrengthening local economy, contributing more to state GDP and generating more employmentopportunities locally. To ensure last mile delivery of banking services in unbanked and under-bankedGram Panchayats, the Odisha Government made a historic decision of engaging Women Self HelpGroups and Federation Members as Business Correspondent Agents (BCAs).

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Mission Shakti has tied up with different banks for engaging suitable women groups and FederationMembers as BCAs, thereby furthering the financial inclusion efforts in Odisha using ICT based BusinessCorrespondence (BC) Model through community institutions. So far 1252 SHG members are engagedas BCAs with a total transaction amount of 230.44 cr. Challenging the gender stereotypes, this innovativeinitiative demonstrates the effective convergence of Financial Inclusion Strategies and the Women SelfHelp Group Movement under Mission Shakti.

Capacity Building

Different types of training and capacity building programmes are arranged for SHG membersthrough nodal agencies and community institutions under Mission Shakti. This include a wide range ofcapacity building programmes such as Village Level Training on WSHG Management, livelihood basedadvanced training, financial management, leadership development, awareness on social entitlements,digital literacy, periodic refresher training programmes, workshops, exposure visits, buyer seller meets,peer group interactions, brainstorming events etc.

Graduating SHGs to Entrepreneurs:

Mission Shakti extends opportunities for self-employment to SHGs by linking them with social welfareprogrammes, aggregate marketing initiatives and creating their own identity in the commercial enterprisessector. Mission Shakti aims at providing sustainable livelihood options to SHGs through financial linkage,strengthening SHG institutions, training & capacity building, marketing of SHG products, and procurementof goods & services. Large number of SHGs/ SHG members of Mission Shakti are into different foodprocessing activities to sustain their livelihood. In convergence with MSME Department, Mission Shaktiaims to scale new highs by facilitation of graduating SHG livelihood activities to small and micro enterprisesunder existing MSME schemes.

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Hon'ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Uddhav Thackeray expressing his gratitudeto Hon'ble Chief Minister of Odisha Shri Naveen Patnaik.

Hon'ble Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India Shri N.V. Ramana during his visit to Odisha.

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Hon'ble Member of Lokayukta Dr. Debabrata Swain presenting the book 'Secrets of Similipal'to Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik.

Shri Suresh Kumar Dalai, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Shri Ranjan Kumar Das, Director, OdiaLanguage, Literature and Culture, Dr. Lenin Mohanty and Dr. Bhagyalipi Malla during the Gandhi

Jayanti celebration by Culture Department at Odisha State Museum, Bhubaneswar.

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Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik inaugurating Utkal Alumina Expansion Projectat Doraguda, Rayagada through VC. 5T Secretary Shri V.K. Pandian

is also present.

Shri Bishnupada Sethi, Principal Secretary, Shri Indramani Tripathy, Director,Shri Niranjan Sethi, Director(T) and Dr. Lenin Mohanty, Editor, Odisha Review and

Utkal Prasanga, Department of I & P.R. attending the meeting for celebration of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', a national initiative to commemorate the completion

of 75 years of Independence.

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Abstract

These are the times of sudden deaths and harrowing distresses experienced by almosteveryone in the society in the backdrop of Coronavirus pandemic. The modern times havebecome a matter of questioning for its moral, social, cultural and political order as it standsexposed for all its vulnerabilities. This is certainly an issue which needs to be understood inits broader context. How is it that humankind is going to come to terms with this situationand be resilient when they are striving to survive it with hope and courage. In fact, there isa long literary tradition which reflects on the fears of humans towards infectious diseasesand how they have dealt with it. In the first section, this article attempts to briefly trace thehistory of literary manifestations of pandemics all around the world in different times andspaces and in the next section it discusses at length Bishnupada Sethi’s select poems fromBeyond Here and Other Poems (2021) depicting various nuances of the pandemic.

Keywords: Coronavirus, Pandemic, Lockdown, Pestilence, Epidemic.

Literary manifestation of Pandemic:

There have been multiple perspectives on how humans have tried to understand diseases and pestilence. From Greek historian Thucydides (460–395 BCE), to the Latin poet Lucretius (99–55 BCE) whoattempted to establish that diseases don’t have supernatural origins; The Decameron by GiovanniBoccaccio (1313–1375) and The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400) madeconnections between diseases and human behaviour; Daniel Defoe’s (1659–1731) A Journal of thePlague Year is a narrative of events and anecdotes, regarding the Great Plague of London of 1665;The Betrothed and History of the Column of Infamy, both written by Italian novelist AlessandroManzoni (1785–1873) are descriptions of the plague that struck Milan around 1630. Mary Shelley’s(1797–1851) The Last Man (1826) is one of the first apocalyptic novels telling of a future world thathad been ravaged by a plague. Edgar Allan Poe’s (1809–1849) The Masque of the Red Death(1842), Jack London’s (1876–1916) The Scarlet Plague (1912) are also in the backdrop of the

Ripples of Pandemic in Bishnupada Sethi’sBeyond Here and Other Poems

Dr. Provakar Palaka Ms. Anjali

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diseases. Albert Camus’ The Plague (1947) resonates very well with the present times where thepossibility of collective resistance and cooperation amongst individuals is the key idea proposed by theauthor as one ideal way of dealing with pandemics and diseases. The idea that no single individualshould be left alone should be the foundation of our social, cultural, economic and political order. In amore recent work “Epidemics andSociety: From the Black Death to thePresent” Frank M. Snowden, aprofessor emeritus of history and thehistory of medicine at Yale, examinesthe ways in which disease outbreakshave shaped politics, crushedrevolutions, and entrenched racialand economic discrimination.

Bishnupada Sethi, a civil servant byprofession, is also a well known Odiapoet who writes both in English andOdia language. He has a number ofpoetry collections to his credit: WhereShall I go? My World of Words andBeyond Feelings. He wasinstrumental to popularize Mahimaphilosophy in Odisha by extensivelywriting on it and by preserving BhimaBhoi’s birthplace, Khaliapali,Sambalpur district of Odisha. InOdisha, poetry writing by the civil servants is not something uncommon but rather a convention. Poetslike Ramakanta Ratha, Sitakanta Mahapatra, J.P.Das to name a few who were civil servants likeBishnupada Sethi. But what makes Bishnupada Sethi distinguished from all others is in terms of contextand presentation of real life. In this context Raj Kumar, a well-known critic, says, “Their poetry areabstract and mythical. On the other hand, Bishnupada Sethi’s poetry is just the opposite. His poetry isreal, contemporary and down to earth.” In the context of introducing Beyond Here and Other Poems,the poet writes in the backside of the cover page, “There are individuals inside the book who are indialogue with me.”

Pandemic Covid-19 is an incident of such great magnitude in recent history which has emotionallybroken people across the globe. Pandemic and its devastating effects have already started surfacing inthe pages of literature. Bishnupada Sethi’s Beyond Here and Other Poems is an example of that. Thepoet has so skillfully captured the grim reality of life adversely affected by Covid-19 in this collection ofpoetry. The poems contain a positive outlook on the dire situation as it asks and compels its readers tobe strong and courageous when there is hopelessness all around.

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In one of his poems “As I draw a deep breath” the poet sees a gloom that has descended with thespread of Covid-19 and continuous lockdown that followed. The poet is reminded of the tradition ofOdisha where even the death of a calf is mourned. But the pandemic has created a situation where noone is found even to mourn the death of human beings dying being affected by Coronavirus. It reads:-

At this time-

When the world is locked downA gloom has descended,

A fear gripped us all.Believe me

As I draw a deep breath, A smell of familiar stench-

Unnerves me. (p.12)

The poet can smell the stench of death in every breath that he takes. This ‘unnerves’ the poet and is‘gripped by fear’. What makes him even more fearful is to find no one to mourn over the dead. Thepoet also recollects memories from his childhood when even the death of a calf is being lamented. Thepoet writes:

Now the old world is gone,So also the tradition of lament singing-

As the modern time frowned upon it. (p.12)

With the onset of modern times, the old traditions and customs have lost meaning. The sensitive attitudetowards animals was once a reality but in the present times even human life has become less than it everwas. Humanity is losing its essence; it seems there is no meaning to human life. Birth, marriage anddeath are very important aspects of human life and society. But the Corona Pandemic hit human life sohard that it was so heart wrenching to see relatives too fearful of getting infected if by accident theycome in contact with the dead. It was surely a deplorable sight to see the way the dead were givenfuneral rites. The poet captures such a painful sight of the modern times in his own words:

Someone is dying. Some are in acute pain.

There is no one to do a favour-By lamenting singing. (p.12)

Bishnupada seems to be inconsolable to watch a society which once lamented even the death of animals,looks heartless towards the dead especially in the times of Pandemic.

In “Beyond the Lock Down” the poet writes about the migrant labourers. The title itself suggests thepandemic lockdown is behind the poetic inspiration. The poem describes the plight of the migrantlabourers in various cities compelling them to travel back to their villages barefoot under the scorching

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heat. However, the poet goes beyond the pandemic, which compelled migrant labourers to go back totheir villages. He sees life itself as a journey in which hunger, which is no less than Coronavirus, hascompelled people all the time to move miles and miles in search of work and food. Bishnupada writes:

Over the years in search of work, food and rest.

I continue the journeyUnmindful of cyclone and flood

Drought and epidemic drive me further away. My feet are bared. Little clothes I do wear.

Heat, rain and coldAll the extreme weatherHurt and benumb. (p.20)

Displacement and migration are not happening for the first time. But the fact is that it is always the poorpeople who are the victims of natural calamities like cyclones, drought etc. These events have compelledpeople to move from place to place in search of ‘work, food and rest’. The words ‘hurt and benumb’reveal how the poor people have always been the victims of these natural calamities.

The ending of the poem is very powerful. It sees hope against hopelessness, strength against helplessness.The poet persona seeks for strength and courage to overcome the arduous journey and reach to aplace where he can sustain the life of his family. His desire to see a smile in the face of his familymembers fills him with determination and strength to fight. The lines read:

I rise to go-

The earth belowAnd the sky above

Give me a callAnd fill my mind with strength

My dear ones need to smile and grow. (p.21)

“Cheering up the Brave hearts” is a poem in tribute to the brave medicos and paramedics who have losttheir lives by battling heads on during the spread of pandemic. Indeed the medical professionals were‘brave hearts’. When people were coddled at homes, these brave hearts were treating the Covid-19patients by risking their lives. Many of them died to save others’ lives. So, the poet persona salutesthem saying, “We stand to cheer up the brave hearts.”

By seeing the medical professionals selflessly working to save lives, the poet is comforted knowing thathuman civilization will surely win this battle however formidable it might look. He says:

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They remind-

Like many a time in the pastAs a human civilization

We shall have the conquestWith science as a weapon. (p.25)

The last two lines, “We shall have the conquest, with science as a weapon” speak a volume at thebackdrop of India’s desperate response to the pandemic by imagining it to disappear by beating thali,burning the candle, etc. Rather the poet is convinced that with our scientific approach to Pandemic,human civilization will surely conquer.

There are many poems in the book depicting the social, cultural and psychological plight of people whosuffered in their own ways during the pandemic. The poem “Where are the Children Gone” rightlydescribes how pandemic led to a situation which pushed everyone to confinements. The poet writes:

Where are the children gone!The play fields are empty.

The elderly people aren’t visible in the parks. Few rodents run helter-skelter

In the hideouts the lovers prefer. (p.109)

Poet grieves over how the children have disappeared from the streets and so the elderly ones frompublic places like parks. The normal daily routine has been disturbed and there is a sense of abandonmentand barrenness about the present situation. The following lines depict how the pandemic situation hasled to this sad and disturbingly silent atmosphere which is visible all around:

The roads in front of my house appear wide and long.No vehicles are at sight.

The silence is eerie-Seldom the sirens of ambulance puncturing it.

A great grief, panic and deep pain-Seems looming all over.

The morning chants from the nearby temple are missing.All are huddling in their havens. (p.109)

The Covid-19 crisis has exposed all the vulnerabilities of our society. The line ‘the silence is eerie’reveals how silence can be really frightening and terrifying. Here ‘silence’ has caused grief, panic anddeep pain all over. The only sound which could be heard was the occasional sirens of ambulancecarrying the Corona patients. People were left with no option but to stay huddled in their havens, athomes.

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In “My Chase with the Monster”, the poet has talked about life as a journey where one has to challengethe difficulties and always focus on the brighter side. He uses the metaphor of a monster to refer to thedarkness or negativity that can pull someone down or render an individual become fearful of the challengeslife sometimes poses. The poet writes:

There’s an inner voice Wafting from all around-

It’s time to give a quiet farewellTo the fear inside. Life is a great gift.Do good, be kind.

Monster would always be thereBut won’t rule over this earth-

It’s the order. (p.83)

In other words, it is the poet’s intention to fill the reader with determination and strength to challenge allsorts of hardships by bidding farewell to fear inside. He appeals everyone to celebrate life by being kindand doing good to others. Here the poet uses the metaphor of ‘monster’ to represent pandemic or anyother calamities. But the poet is convinced that victory surely belongs to life and death or its elementscannot rule over people.

In another poem “You Must Come Out” which appears to be very radical in tone. “You” in the titleperhaps refers to Lord Jagannath. Lord Jagannath is an integral part of Odisha. In the poem it seemsthat the poet is deeply unsettled with the situation and he wants Lord Jagannath to intervene and comeout and not sit silently in his abode. It is a strong urge from the poet.

At this difficult time-

The whole of humanity is facing a test And crying, Immense are the people’s suffering,The miseries are becoming limitless, All the faiths are too facing a crisis.

As an ardent devoteeI pray with all humilities at my command-

You must come out of the abode,And see for yourself how

Your children are suffering. (p.117)

Conclusion

The spread of Pandemic, lockdown and its social, mental and economic pressure caused by itsubsequently, is certainly more than a human mind can bear and comprehend. The silence and solitude,

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once praised and appreciated in the poetry, sounds so ghostly and scary during the Pandemic time.Bishnupada Sethi has taken recourse to poetry to express his feelings and frustrations, determination,hope, all in his poetry. Surely poetry could be a kind of therapeutic agency which gives scope to thepoet to express. And he does it so beautifully.

References:

Bakul Talks: Book Discussion on “Beyond Here and Other Poems” By Bishnupada Sethi,

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bakul+foundation+on+bishnupada+sethi (Streamedlive on Jul 11, 2021, accessed on 27th Sept. 2021).

Grigsby BL. Pestilence in Medieval and early modern English literature. London: Routledge,2004.

Sethi, Bishnupada. Beyond Here and Other Poems. Haranand Publication Pvt Ltd. 2021.

Sethi, Bishnupada. “Where Shall I Go?” https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/where-shall-i-go/(accessed on 27th September 2021).

Snowden, Frank M. Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present. YaleUniversity Press, 2019.

Steel D. Plague writing: from Boccaccio to Camus. J Eur Stud. 1981;11:88–110.

Appendix:

In an interview with Bishnupada Sethi, I got the opportunity to have a conversation with him about theanthology and following were some of the questions that were asked during the interaction:

(Q) :-There are quite a few poems on Pandemic and its impact on life. You are also thePrincipal Secretary of the department of Disaster Management. Can you share some thoughtsthat made you restless about the pandemic and how those experiences led you to write someof the poems included in this collection?

(Ans):-Way back in 2003 when I was working on a project which was a part of the United NationsDevelopment Program to initiate a policy dialogue on resettlement of people, who got displaced becauseof the various development projects. I met such bureaucrats who would say that “poor are better thanthe rich in Odisha and they don’t need any policy.” I was shocked, ‘how can such a learned personmake such a statement’. For six months I struggled to find a person who would agree to have a policydialogue on the resettlement issues. Then I was introduced to L. K Mahapatra, by a very senior andpowerful official who said “if there is anybody who understands the plight of the poor people andparticularly the marginalized tribals it is Dr. L.K. Mahapatra.” I met Dr. Mahapatra and had a beautifuldiscussion on how poor people suffer.

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When I was steering this resettlement policy, I had written my first poetry anthology, “Where shall Igo?”. I would like to read out an excerpt from the book:

Where shall I go!

Leaving this land,For which I am only a trustee.As a tribal, I am duty bound

To pass it on to the generation next !Who would shift the banyan tree !

And the village spirits lying underneath.What would happen to the streams ?Singing praises in the names of God,

And the rocks lying there,Our monuments for ages.

I will set my ancestors free,Whose spirits I had installed in the home;

I am not sure,If they won’t be angry,

As I failed to preserve things, given to me.They were lucky,

They knew no state,No king ever ruled them before.

After I leave the land,They would build the modern temple

For making gold out of earth.A new era would dawn

With promises of more happiness;And I know not for sure

If it means anythingTo me or people like me.

This is my tribute to Prof. L K Mahapatra. We worked together and in three years’ time, we made apolicy which was the best in the country. Odisha was a pioneer to resettlement policies. L K Mahapatrareally understood the pain of the tribal people.

During the pandemic we know very well that it is the poorest that get the hardest hit. Regions likeOdisha, Bengal used to be very hard hit by the famines in the years before independence. We knowBritish rule was designed to loot the country and during British rule 60-70 million Indians had died.There was a famine in 1866 in Odisha and about one third of the Odisha population died because of

xxvi SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER-2021


hunger. That time the eminent poet of Odisha BhimaBhoi who is the preacher of Mahima religion, musthave been sixteen or eighteen years old then and wrote a poem which is now world famous. SitakantaMahapatra has translated this poem. He wrote,

‘Nothing to eatNothing to wear

Boundless is the anguish among the world’s creaturesLet my soul be condemned to hell

But the universe be redeemed’

During this pandemic we saw the worst in our lifetime. Unfortunately, our memories are very short, butall the sensitive people will remember the images of people who travelled long distances barefooted.Some on bicycles, children on suitcases and many people succumbed to the heat, dust and lack of foodand care. Those images were very disturbing. Life had come to a standstill. So, I wrote a few poemslike “Beyond the Lockdown”, “Where are the children Gone”. Children have had the worst suffering inthese last two years. They have not gone to the playground. They have not gone to the schools. Theyhave not met their friends, and many have become gadget savvy and children have suffered very badly.In “Cheering the Brave Hearts”, we are cheering the brave hearts like those of doctors, paramedics,anganwadi workers. Similarly, as an ardent follower of Lord Jagannath all people of Odisha and theentire country believe that Lord Jagannath has seen all miseries, famines, cyclones, droughts. Andpeople believed that Lord Jagannath must come out and see the plight of people who worship him so Ihave written a poem “You must come out”. After there was a judgement of the honorable SupremeCourt that Rath Yatra was celebrated without the devotees and this year also it is celebrated the sameway, I had written that he had come out of the temple. I had dwelt in some mythological issues, forexample when the lord of universe comes out of his temple and when he is on the chariot, the foodoffered to him is spilled and scattered. It is believed that ghosts take that food and that is how they getentry to heaven. I also read a novel of Ishika Rai who also refers to how lord Jagannath is important asa medium between this material world and the other world.

While writing these poems, I went through many disturbing emotions and not just poems, but I havealso written articles which have got published as well. Poems on migrant workers, what migrationworkers are subjected to is not a feature of only this pandemic. It is recurring. They are always on themove. Migrant workers did not move out for the first time. It is an annual sojourn. He goes to Bengal,Andhra Pradesh and every other day he is on the move in search of food and care. It is his life.

(Q):-Most of your poems talk about life as a journey. While you talk about celebrating lifeyou are also equally overwhelmed by the uncertainties of life and the power of death. Arethere some experiences which developed your thoughts on life and death?

(Ans):- Journey in this life has been a long one. It has something to do with personal life. A person whowas born in a small village when there was no road communication, no buses, no trains, and the personcoming out of that village, going to a small town, then a bigger town, landing up in Mumbai, getting into

xxviiSEPTEMBER-OCTOBER-2021


Civil Service then getting exposed to the life and culture of the tribal societies, the cases of malnutrition,hunger and the uniqueness and richness of culture. For example, in a district called Rayagada, theLanjiaSaora community, Peter Betrsky’s ‘Talking with the Dead’ tells how rich the tribal culture is.They may not be very rich materially. Though the tribal society is not there anymore because everyonehas become a Christian but twenty years before when LanjiaSouras were living in that ancient faith, ifsomebody was aggrieved because there was a loss of life in the family, then the head priestess wouldcome and intercede between the world of the dead and the person living and chant mantras which wasactually chanting the name of all the ancestors. Thereby she’ll get possessed and would connect thedead to the living. So, the culture is very rich and it is more than twenty thousand years old. Somebodycan say that this is primitive and superstitious but if you really appreciate it, you’ll find a lot of beauty init and that is the way of life you must respect. Likewise, if a tribal is worshipping a rock in Niyamgiri,you must respect because all his ancestors are living there and if you dispossess him and throw him outof that place he’ll think that he has been cursed by the ancestors and won’t live peacefully throughouthis life.

So, a lot of exposure to the uniqueness of our people, culture, diversities, the dance, the song, themusic; in personal life, the pride, the fall of the important people, egos, oppressions, deceptions andthen human way of doing things. So, the great exposure that I had in my life has a deep impact onwriting down some poems.

Once I came across news that children in Afghanistan have been bombarded, such events have deepimpacts. I would remain sleepless and then would find some lines and make it as a poem.

Dr. Provakar Palaka holds a Ph.D from JNU and now teaches English in Swami Shraddhanand College, Universityof Delhi. His areas of interest are Dalit literature, Odia Dalit literature, Odia literature, Indian Literature, Post-colonialliterature, Dalit Autobiography, Autobiography, etc. His book titled, Politics of Writing was published by AuthorsPress: New Delhi in 2015. Another edited book titled, Reading the Margins: History, Culture and Literature waspublished in 2020. His research articles and chapters have been published in reputed journals and edited books.

Anjali is currently working as an Assistant Professor in Dyal Singh College Evening, University of Delhi. She didher M.phil from Dept. of English and the title of her thesis is Challenging Myths through Social narratives of Dalitand Non-Dalit Literature. Her areas of interest include, Dalit Literature, Modern Indian Literature, Indian EnglishWritings, Children Literature etc.

Dr. Provakar Palaka and Ms. Anjali, University of Delhi, E-mail : [email protected]

xxviii SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER-2021



Manorama MohapatraEminent litterateur and Former Editor, The Samaja.

xxixSEPTEMBER-OCTOBER-2021



Prof. Rajkishore MishraEminent litterateur, Former Secretary, Odisha Sahitya Academy and

Editor, Odisha Review and Utkal Prasanga.

xxx SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER-2021


Hon'ble Governor of Odisha Prof. Ganeshi Lal administering the Oath of Office to thenewly appointed State Chief Information Commissioner Shri Jalada Kumar Tripathy.

Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik attending the functionthrough Video Conferencing.

xxxiSEPTEMBER-OCTOBER-2021


The COVID-19 pandemic impact has been devastating across the world. Many countries havebeen affected by multiple waves of COVID infection. India has also been severely affected by two

waves of COVID infection. Our State has been on high alertto tackle the pandemic situation. Odisha's model of DisasterManagement is now recognised world over for its efficiencyand human approach. Our State has been affected by twowaves of infection so far. We have been able to ensure thatall the health care systems are in place and we are notoverwhelmed by the spread of infection. Our Governmenthas been taking proactive steps to ensure that we are alwaysahead of the curve and in control of the situation. While otherStates had to unfortunately grapple with Oxygen shortages,our Government has been able to successfully manage theOxygen logistics for our hospitals and we have also providedOxygen to other States saving many precious lives.

In this backdrop, in spite of having a long tradition of Shaktiworship wherein Durga Puja is celebrated with great pompand fervour is now being observed following COVIDguidelines. People of Odisha deserve thanks for cooperatingand supporting fight against the pandemic. Together we will overcome this crisis.

Under the dynamic leadership of our popular Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik, the Government ofOdisha is committed to bring about transformation in every sphere of life. The vision of transformationunder 5T with an objective to empower people of our State is meant to take public services delivery tothe doorsteps of common man. With Biju Swasthya Kalyan Smart Health Card a new era in StateHealth sector has ushered in. It is historic, a paradigm shift in the system of health services in India,where a patient would get the best health care without any expenses. About 3.5 crore people from 96lakh families will be benefitting out of it.

While our Government has had to deal with crisis after crisis, It has not lost sight of the commitmentsmade to the people of Odisha in the last elections. Government's major focus in this term has been the

Editor’s Note

xxxii SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER-2021


principles of 5T- Transparency, Technology, Team work, Time and Transformation. Every departmenthas adopted a transformative agenda and is working relentlessly towards achieving the goals.

To connect directly to the citizen, the Government had started the Mo Sarkar feedback system. Overa period of time, there have been visible changes in the attitude and behavior of the Governmentservants at all levels towards the citizens. There have been sincere efforts for systemic and process-based changes to make administration and service delivery more citizen-friendly and technology oriented.

Government is having a special focus on the development of education andhealth. Massive investment of over Rs.8500 crore in development ofhealthcare infrastructure across the State is under progress. The SCBMedical College and Hospital is being developed as a great institution withan investment of Rs.3500 crore. More than 786 doctors and 5137paramedics have been recruited in the last one year alone. Towards women'sempowerment we have been supporting the Mission Shakti Groups acrossthe State. In a pioneering move, a separate Department for Mission Shaktihas also been created. To preserve the cultural heritage of our State, theState Government has launched various projects for heritage conservationacross the State in Puri, Konark, Samaleswari Temple and Harishankar-Nrushinghanath Temple etc.

Education is the key to unravel the full potential of our children and therefore,the Transformation of the High Schools has been a main agenda and morethan 1000 schools have been taken up in the first phase this year. To prepare our youth for the globaljob market, our Government has started the World Skill Centre as part of our "Skilled in Odisha"program. Our youth will be provided quality skills in every sector so that they can compete with thebest in the world. Odisha continues to be a favourite investment destination. Inspite of COVID situationwe attracted some of the biggest investments in the country. Economy of Odisha is bouncing back fromthe adverse impacts of the pandemic and we are back to track. We have attracted investment to thetune of over Rs.4.5 lakh crore since pandemic. Odisha has now emerged as the top most investmentdestination. Our Government's stable policy and facilitating environment has enabled the growth ofindustries in our State. Due to all these there has been a visible transformation in our State which hashelped us rise high in human development index.

The people of Odisha have blessed our Government with 5th consecutive term and under the dynamicleadership of Shri Naveen Patnaik the team has been working very hard to live up to the expectationsand fulfill all the commitments made. The Pandemic has created a unique situation where the lives andlivelihoods of people are at stake. In spite of all the challenges, Government is quite confident that itwill emerge victorious in this crisis with the cooperation of the people of the State, and continue to carryforward the good work for the transformation of Odisha.

Editor, Odisha Review

1SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER - 2021


Goddess Durga is said to one of the most powerfuldeity who appears in Hindu mythology innumerous forms and names but ultimately all theseare different aspects manifestation of one goddess.An importantmanifestation of theMother Goddess inOdisha is theMahisamardini Durgabeing worshipped atseveral placessymbolizing the victory ofgood over evil or ofgodly power over animalspirit.

MahisamardiniDurga images can bedivided into three distincttypes taking into accountthe changes in the form ofthe buffalo demon. In theearly images the demonappears in buffalo form,next he is shown with human body and buffalohead; and finally the form crystallizes into humanform issuing out from the decapitated trunk of abuffalo.

In Odisha we find Mahisamardini Durgaimages having two to twenty arms with variousayudhas ranging from very early time to modernperiod. The present image of Viraja in the temple

at Jajpur, which isassigned to pre-Guptaperiod by R.P.Chandaand Gupta period byDr.K.C.Panigrahi, is theearliest known image oftwo armedMahisamardini Durga. Itis made of blackchlorites stone and threefeet on height. She ismounting on a ferociouslion. In her right hand sheis holding a spear whichpierces the body of thebuffalo. In her left handshe pulls the tail of theanimal, her left footpresses the head of thebuffalo. This two-armedMahisamardini is unique

in nature and such type of figure is not foundanywhere else in Odisha.The temple ruins atSarsara in the Sundargarh district is ofconsiderable importance, due to the two-armed

Images of Mahisamardini Durga in Odisha :An Iconographic Study

Balabhadra Ghadai

2 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER - 2021

Odisha ReviewISSN 0970-8669

Durga images found here which can be dated tothe 6th-7th century A.D. In this image, the demonof Mahisa is depicted in a complete buffalo form,but very peculiarly holding a sword in its properright foreleg which is designed like a hand. TheGoddess is standing in Dvibhanga posture,putting her proper left hand on the head of thebuffalo and pressing its head which is looking up.In the proper right hand Devi is holding a longsula piercing it on the neck of the demon. HerVahana lion is seen in the right side of the pedestalnear proper left foot. Unfortunately the head ofthe image is missing.

Among the four-armed MahisamardiniDurga, an interesting specimen of this variety isfound in the compound of the Markandesvaratemple at Bhubaneswar. The other importantspecimen of this variety is found in the temple ofMadhava at Niali and in the temple of Charchikaand Banki. A four-handed Durga in herMahisasuramardini aspect is enshrined in aseparate shrine to the north of the brick-builtJagamohana of the Kosalesvara temple atBaidyanath in Sonepur district. In her up-raisedproper right hand is a Khadga, while in the lowerleft hand is a Dhanu. She is holding a long tridentin her upper left hand which is pierced into themouth of the demon. In her lower right hand sheis holding the tail of her Vahana the lion. Inanother place i.e. Banei in Sundargarh districtalso we find a rare four handed Durga image inthe Alidha posture amidst loose sculptures foundin the Kumari temple precinct, on the right bankof the river Brahmani. Here Devi is seen to beputting her uplifted left leg on the back of the beastMahisa, while pressing its head with her lowerleft hand so that the head is turned tone side bythat pressure and simultaneously piercing its neckwith the Trisula, which is in her lower right hand.

In the up-raised upper right hand of the goddessDurga is a Khadga, while there is a Sankha inher upper left hand. Her Vahana lion is seen tobe seated crouching, while biting the tail of theMahisa.Here the human figure of Mahisasura isabsent. This image can be dated to the 7th -8th

century A.D. also. The four armed image ofgoddess Durga enshrined in the Durga temple atthe village Nuasatanga (Motia) in the Niali Blockof the Cuttack district is carved in standing postureon the double-petalled lotus pedestal. She holdsconch shell, disc in upper two arms while thelower two ones hold the trident, by which she ispiercing the heart of Mahisasura.

Six-armed Mahisamardini Durga imagesare rare in Odisha. An interesting specimen of thisvariety is found on the wall of Parsuramesvartemple of Bhubaneswar. Here the deity is seenholding a sword in upper left hand while in theupper right hand she is pressing the face of thedemon buffalo. In middle left hand She is piercingthe Trisula on the neck of the demon while inlower left hand She holds a pointed ayudha. Inthe right middle hand She is holding khetaka whilein the lower right hand she holds a bow. GoddessMahisamardini also appears as the Parswadeviin the northern niche of the Vimana of theRameswar temple. This six-armed image isdepicted in her conventional archer’s pose. Thegoddess is shown killing the demon Mahisa bypiercing the trident by holding it in her lower lefthand. The demon is absent in the sculpture. Herright leg is on the back of her mount lion. Sheholds a mace in her uplifted right hand whereasthe upper left and middle right arms are broken.The goddess is wearing a Karanda Mukuta.Other two examples of this type are found atAstarang in Puri district and at Belkhandi inKalahandi district.



Images of eight-armed variety ofMahisamardini Durga are widely found in Odisha.During the early Bhaumakara rule, Durga imagebecame eight-armed. The finest product of thisvariety is found in the northern central niche ofthe Vaital temple. It is a beautiful icon and eight-armed Mahisamardini Durga. Here the deity holdsa sword, a sula, a trident, and a vajra in her righthands. She holds a khetaka with a loop handle,a bow and a snake in the three left hands whileshe presses the buffalo head of the demon withher remaining left hands. The deity tramples overthe chest of the demon in her right leg while thedemon represented in a sitting posture. In thePrachi Valley such images are found at Amarkudanear Niali,in the temple of Ramesvar atRamesvargarh and also at Mangalpur nearKakatpur. The eight-armed image at Amarkudaholds a discus and a trident in two of the righthands, of which the other two have beendamaged. In her left hands she holds a lotus, bowand snake, the remaining one being placed on theface of the demon. A devotee is depicted to theright side of the Goddess. There is another eightarmed image of Durga to the right side of the mainentrance of the temple of Ramesvara atRamesvargarh.The image is badly mutilated andonly a bow is seen in one of her left hands whileonly three weapons viz. the sword, the quiver andthe trident piercing the head of the demon areseen in her right hands. The eight armed Durga atMangalpur, only half a mile to the south ofKakatpur is in a very bad state of preservation.The lower most hands of the Goddess carries asevered head. Her other ayudhas are notdistinctly visible. The Goddess has beenrepresented here as a Tantric deity.There are two images of eight-armedMahisamardini Durga preserved at the sitemuseum of Khiching in the district of Mayurbhanj.

Such representation of eight armed MahisamardiniDurga are also found in the Hanumanesvaratemple at Jajpur, in the temple of Sisiresvara atBhubaneswar, in the Kichakeswari temple atKhiching, on the back-wall of the Bhagavatitemple at Banpur, the Lingaraj temple atBhubaneswar at Mukhalingam.

Among the eight armed varieties the imageat Somesvara is worthy of note. The Goddess isrepresented in the dancing pose holding in the righthands dambaru, skull cup and a dagger whilethe remaining hand bestow a boon to theworshipper depicted below. In her four left hands,she carries Khataavanga on which lies a deadbody, rosary, another Khatavanga and humanhead. She wears a garland of skulls and a serpentbelt surrounds her waist. Her head dress isterrifically represented with a small garland ofskulls flanked by two human hands which issurmounted with the blood of a cobra. Flames offires are rising upward representing her hair knot.In spite of all these terrific aspects, the Goddesslooks calm and peaceful with half closed eyesexpressing deep meditation.

The images of ten-armed MahisamardiniDurga became most expressive in the temples ofOdisha from 10th centrury A.D. onwards. TheDasabhuja or ten armed Durga was depicted asa war Goddess, armed with weapons of differentGods like Siva’s trident, Vishnu’s disc, Varuna’sconch, Agni’s dart, Yama’s iron rod, Vayu’s bow,Surya’s arrows, Indra’s thunderbolt, Kuvera’smace, Brahma’s rosary and pot, Viswakarma’ssword and Himavan’s lion.

There is a Dasabhuja Chamunda atChaurasi locally known as Jagulai. She sits inArdhaparyanka pose. The Goddess carries inher four right hands dambaru, sword, skull-cup



and a dagger, her remaining hand being in abhayamudra. She carries a rosary in the uppermost lefthand while the remaining left hands carry a heavyKhatabhanga and a trident, with the next handshe holds Chhinna mastaka and exhibits Varadapose with the remaining one. In Jajpur a detachedimage of Chamunda in the Trilochanesvara templecompound is ten-armed seated in ardhaparyankawith her right knee uplifted. She has an emaciatedbody with sunken belly. She wears a long garlandof skulls, necklace, arm-band and anklets. Herround eyes project from sunken sockets and herteeth are visible through her sinister smile. Herhair is arranged in Karanda Mukuta with a stringof pearls at the base. Of the numerous DasabhujaMahisamardini images mention may be made ofthe beautiful ones at Pitapur, Lataharan, Niali,Jogeswar on Prachi valley, in Bhattarika templenear Baramba, Kanak Durga near Remuna in thedistrict of Baleswar, Padhuan near Basudevpur,at Khiching in the district of Mayurbhanj, and atmany other places of Odisha.

Twelve-armed Mahisamardini sculpturesare not many in Odisha. The most interestingimage of one twelve-armed Mahisamardini Durgais found in the Kanakesvara temple at Kualosituated in the Kamakshanagar Subdivision of

Dhenkanal District on the bank of the riverBrahmani. There are two such images, one in anew temple on the eastern edge of Bindusarovaratank at Bhubaneswar known as Dwaravasini andthe other known as Dakeswari near Chandbali inthe district of Baleswar.

Two eighteen-armed Mahisamardiniimages are noticed, one such image is found as apresiding deity in the Kapileswar temple of Dianear Nirakarpur in Khordha district and the otheras the presiding goddess in Prachi valley.Moreover, a twenty-armed Mahisamardini isfound at Salebhata in the Ang valley of Bolangirdistrict which can be dated to the 11th centuryA.D.

Thus, from the above discussion it isevident that Mahisamardini Durga in various formsis one of the most worshipped goddess of Odisha.Of all her forms, She is the ultimate representationof infinite power, purity and strength of purpose,which resides within the divine essence of everybeing.

Balabhadra Ghadai, Retd.Principal, M.K.College,Khiching, Mayurbhanj.



Imperishable soul is essentially the source ofspiritualism. Real bliss in the mundane world isspiritual happiness which is nothing but the truth.In order to get that happiness one shouldsurrender completely before the Paramatma.Ultimate divinehappiness is that whenan individual soul getsunited with the supremeone. Purusha asmentioned in the RigVeda, Purushottamaas referred to in the“Aagama”, “Purana”and “Jagannathaconsciousness” asprevalent amongdevotees of the worldare but the realreflection of spiritualc o n s c i o u s n e s s .P a r a m b r a h m aParamatma hasmanifested as theDarubrahma (Wooden manifestation) ShreeJagannatha at Purushottama Kshetra.

Since time immemorial the benevolentfour deities, in their wooden manifestation appear

on the holy Rantasimhasan of Shreemandira atPurushottama Kshetra (presently known as Puri)and bless multitudes of devotees. The sacred seator Simhasana, on which the mysterious fourdeities are worshipped, is known as Ratna Vedi,

Ratna Mandapa, Antarvedi, Ratnasimhasanaand Niladri Mandapa. In Utkal khanda

of the Skanda Purana, the significanceof Antarvedi has been stated as

follows “Purushottama Kshetrais the embodiment of LordVishnu and Antarvedi is likehis heart”. According to

legend and popularbelief the said sacredseat is NiladriMandapa.

As described inthe Skanda Puranasabara King (Tribal

Chief) Viswabasu andGods from the heaven were the

first to worship the deityNilamadhava Shining like the effulgence of blueemerald. This deity of ‘eighty one angulas’ heightwas found holding a conch, a disc, a mace and alotus in his four hands. Further, as per thedescription in the said Purana, after the mysterious

Advent of Darubrahma Shree Jagannathain Purushottama Kshetra

Dr. Bhaskar Mishra



disappearance of Nilamadhava, the woodenmanifestation of Shree Balabhadra, DeviSubhadra, Shree Jagannatha and ShreeSudarshana appeared on the most sacred placei.e on the Antarvedi, so famed as the most holyplace of Lord Vishnu. The 4th chapter of the ShreePurushottama Kshetra Mahatmya of SkandaPurana describes as follows. “As this Antarvediin the Purushottama Kshetra is extremely sacred,celestial bodies cherish a desire to remain hereonly. Here everyone feels privileged to have aglimpse of Lord Purushottama”.

Since time immemorial, ShreePurushottama Kshetra (Puri), the place of sportiveart of Darubrahma Shree Jagannath, has beenknown as the most sacred place for theVaishnavites. Founders of different religiousschools, sects and cults have acclaimed theChaturddha Murti on their own ways. The divineimages or the principal deities of Shreemandirahave been described in numerous ways in thepuranic scriptures.

As per the description in the UtkalKhanda “Shree Purushottama KshetraMahatmya” of Skanda Purana, KingIndradyumna came to know about ShreeNilamadhava from Vidyapati, the brother of hisroyal priest. He along with his family members,fellow citizens and courtiers proceeded towardsNilagiri situated at Purushottama Kshetra. Butbefore reaching Nilagiri the manifest idol ofNilamadhava disappeared. The “Skanda Purana”further described that during the last part of“Kalpa” (a fabulous concept of time heralding anew creation) a heavy hurricane arose from theMahodadhi (Sea) and as a result, LordNilamadhava was buried beneath heaps of goldensand. The disappearance of Nilamadhava

shocked the Gods and they prayed ferventlybefore lord Vishnu. It was heard through an oraclethat Lord Vishnu would again appear at Nilachala.

King Indradyumna of Avanti condemnedhimself for not getting a glimpse of the idol ofNilamadhava. Consoling the King MaharshiNarada said, “O King ! the sportive art of LordShree Hari is unique and unparalleled. Nobodyis able to understand his sportive art. Although Iam beyond death I could not make out thesportive art of the Lord. Maharshi Narada furtherdescribed that his father Lord Brahma also restsin the navel-lotus of Vishnu. He also could notunderstand the mystery of Vishnu (ShreeNilamadhava). But Brahma Himself confessedbefore me (Narada) that the manifest Godcomprised four forms and they have their blessingson you. Besides, when Lord Nilamadhava wasin His stone form, He also appeared in thecompany of three others. Nilamadhava has furtherassured that he would appear again in fourdifferent images in wooden form”.

Brahmarshi Narada who came to helpKing Indradyumna has stated that Lord Vishnu,consort of Goddess Lakshmi has appeared in fourdifferent images and intended to oblige him.Human beings would get salvation by visiting thedivine appearance of Lord Vishnu.

While King Indradyumna retrieved theholy wooden log from the sea and desired to sculptthe idols, Lord Vishnu appeared in disguise as anage-stricken, extremely old carpenter. He indisguise constructed the four idols within 15days.These mysterious four idols are of BhagabanShree Purushottama Jagannatha (Lord Vishnu),Devi Subhadra, Lord Balabhadra and LordSudarshana. The idol of Purushottama or LordShree Jagannatha was carved with the symbolic



representation of conch, disc, mace and lotus.Similarly the idol of Lord Shree Balabhadra hadthe symbols of mace, plough, disc and lotus. Theidol of Devi Subhadra was sculpted having aposture of abhaya mudra and holding a lotus.Lord Sudarshana found place in the shape of adivine staff among the deities.

As per the suggestion of MaharshiNarada, King Indradyumna brought the fourdivine idols on the sacred chariot constructed byBiswakarma. King Indradyumna discussed atlength with Narada, other saints and brahminsabout the consecration of Shreemandira andinstallation of deities on the bejewelled platform.

It has been described in the “ShreePurushottama Kshetra Mahatmya” of SkandaPurana that it is Rishi Bharadwaja who conductedthe consecration ceremony of Shreemandira andDhwaja (Flag) of the temple and prayed LordBrahma for infusing life to the idols. BhagbanNarayan by means of His sportive art desired thatthe holy logs which bore the signs of conch anddisc should be infused with life. But Brahma couldnot be at one with the proposal of Narayana. Heconducted the consecration ceremony throughVedic rituals. On the other hand it has beendescribed in “Niladri Mahodaya” that LordBrahma chanted the Sam Veda for LordJagannatha, Rig Veda for Lord Balabhadra, YajurVeda for Devi Subhadra and Atharva Veda forLord Sudarshana.

At the time of consecration ceremony ofthe temple, Brahma engaged rishi Bharadwajaas Acharya, Agasty as Brahma, Narada andBasistha as Pracharaka and other sages forchanting of suktas and mantras.

With the help and co-operation of sagesand rishis the consecration of Shree JagannathaTemple was completed. After this, Lord Brahmaenthroned the deities on the bejewelled platform.The mirrored reflections of the deities wereoffered ceremonial bath. The installation of thedeities such as Shree Balabhadra, ShreeJagannatha, Devi Subhadra was done withrecitation of the Purusha Sukta, Shree Sukta andDevi Sukta respectively.

In accordance to ‘Mahapurusha Vidya’the sacred Simhasana of Lord Shree Jagannathasymbolises the primordial sound “AUM” orPranava. The assimilation of Ratna Simhasana andPranava is unique. A full bloom lotus is perceivedon the pranavatmaka Simhasana. Hence, theRatnasimhasana is verily a Lotus itself.

Verse 32 of chapter-9 of MahapurushaVidya describes as follows:

“In the conch-shaped Niladri upon thehundred petalled lotus shape of theRatnasimhasana, I witness Lord Jagannathadecked in all exquisite adornments, resemblingthat of a newly formed cloud who is seated in thecompany of his elder brother Balabhadra, SisterDevi Subhadra on his right and ChakrarajSudarshan on his left. Lord Shree Jagannatha isbeing adored by Brahma, Rudra and Indra. I offermy benediction to this Lord, the Darubramha, theessence of all the Vedas in the company of Hisdear associates.”

Descriptions in the ‘Skanda Purana’ andthe then Puri District Gazetteer give the followinginformation on the four deities enthroned onRatnasimhasana.



The height of Shree Balabhadra is 85 jaba( a little more than 7ft.) having conch shape andwhite in colour. The height of Devi Subhadra is51.5 jaba. Hers is lotus like shape and yellow incolour. Shree Jagannatha’s height is 84 jaba andHis appearance is in the form of a disc (Chakra)and colour is cloudy dark. Shree Sudarshana’sheight is 84 jaba. His appearance is mace likeand colour is red. According to scriptures, thedeities have been sculpted as per Chakra (Wheel)Yantra, Sankha (conch) Yantra, Padma (lotus)Yantra and Gada (mace) Yantra.

The four deities on the bejewelled thronealthough extremely mysterious it is ShreeJagannatha alone is the epicentre of all ineffablethought cycle. Purushottama Shree Jagannathasymbolises both mundane and cosmicconsciousness. He is the primordial deity and selfmanifest. The deities dispel all woes and bestowincessant bliss. For this only the deities have beendescribed as “Darumaya Brahma” (Woodenmanifestation of the Brahma) besides the principalwooden deities, metallic images of Shreedevi,Bhudevi and wooden image of Madhava are alsofound in the company of Chaturddha Murti onthe Ratnasimhasana. So these deities are calledas “Saptadha Vigraha”. Darshan of these deities

would surely remove all mundane afflictions andsins and give incessant bliss. These two things areindeed the prime bestowal of Lord ShreeJagannatha.

Venerable Acharya, Saints, Pandits chantthe following Shloka by witnessing the four deities

“Jagannatha Balabhadra Subhadra Chakrarupine,Darubramha Swarupaya Chatturdhamurttaye

namha”....

References :

1. Skanda Purana (Utkala Khanda- ShreePurushottama Kshetra Mahatmya)

2. Neeladrimahodaya

3. Mahapurusha Vidya

4. Shreedham: Shree Jagannatha Chetana-Dr. Bhaskar Mishra

5. Shree Jagannatha Mandira O Jagannatha Tatwa-Pandit Surya Narayan Dash.

Dr. Bhaskar Mishra, Chief Editor, Neeladri, Researchscholar on Shree Jagannatha Culture, Shree JagannathaDham, Puri, E-mail : [email protected].



The first two decades of the 21st Century haswitnessed serious ecological hazards across theglobe. The situation has gone to such an extentthat people have started questioning their ownactivities and there is aserious concern world-wideas how to save the planetfrom further onslaught ofhuman species. The pollutionhas become all pervasive dueto some underlying factorsi.e population explosion,acute poverty, rapidindustrialization, overuse ofrenewable resources,deforestation, emission ofharmful substances,industrial and syntheticwastes, global warming,depletion of ozone layer andnuclear hazards. Theapplication of Gandhianprinciples can effectivelycheck the further progress ofthese effects. To stop pollution and to save themother Earth from further devastation requireswell thought out analysis and concerted effortsby all the Nations. The simple do’s and don’ts inour day to day life is going to make a huge

difference in preserving the Nature. If the pollutiongoes unabated then the entire planet will becomelifeless. It is high time to focus on this emergingglobal issue and find out the ways to safeguard

the environment by adheringto Gandhian ideals.Gandhi’s views onenvironment are of immensevalue in the present scenario.He visualised the imminentdanger and pointed out.“Nature is lenient. It doesnot punish us for our sinsimmediately.” These wordsspeak volumes. It has longlasting impacts as we see thehappenings around us. Hisviews on Nature are foundmentioned in most of hiswritings. His famous quote–"Nature has enough tosatisfy everyone’s needs butnot to satisfy everybody’sgreed"– shows his concern

for Nature and environment.

Realising the gravity of environmentalissues over the years, international conferencesso to say Stockholm conference of 1972 or the

Gandhi and Environment

Jayanta Kumar Das



Rio Earth Summit 1992 were convened much laterthan the concerns raised by Gandhiji. Gandhijialways laid emphasis on sustainable developmentwhich has been reiterated at this summit. It is anundisputed fact that human wants are insatiableand that is why men are resorting to recklessexploitation of natural resources. If we respectnature, follow the path of sustainable developmentand become non-violent and truthful in ourapproach, then there lie the solution. Hence theideas of Gandhiji need to be rediscovered andallout effort to be made to put these ideas intopractice. Gandhiji once remarked. “The earth, theair, the land and the water were not an inheritancefrom our forefathers but a loan from our children.So we have to hand over to the next generationat least as it had been handed over to us.” In ourcountry the major movements to protectenvironment derived inspiration from Gandhiji, forexample, Chipko movement by Chandi PrasadBhatt and Sunder Lal Bahuguna and the NarmadaBachao Andolan by Baba Amte and MedhaPatkar. Sustainable development goal of U.N isakin to Gandhian vision of development. Gandhijiis of the firm belief that sustainable developmentis achievable without doing any harm to theNature.

Gandhiji had cautioned the world aboutthe problems of large scale industrialization whichwe are experiencing today. He observed thatmechanization would not only lead toindustrialization and urbanization but would alsolead to the destruction of environment. In his book“Hind Swaraj” written in 1909, Gandhi’s Visionof Swadeshi and Swaraj focussed on productionby the masses than the mass production whichwould result in the establishment of a neweconomic order. On urbanization Gandhi pointedout “It is a process of double drain from the

villagers. It can never support ninty percent ofIndia’s population which is living in her seven lakhvillages” (statistics as per the year 1934). He wasagainst removing cottage industries from villagesas he believed that this would remove whateverlittle opportunity was there for making the use ofthe hand and head. “And when the villagehandicrafts disappear, the villagers working onlywith their cattle on the field, with idleness for sixor four months in a year must be reduced to thelevel of the beast and be without propernourishment either of the mind or the body, andtherefore without joy and without hope”– Harijan7-9-1934. For this Gandhiji had propounded thetheory of Basic Education in which mind, handand body of a student would work together. InBasic Education, labour occupies an importantplace which teaches a person to become self-sufficient and self reliant. It enlarges the heart andenriches the personality. This mode of educationhelps in promotion of sustainable development andcreates awareness to address environment relatedissues. Gandhiji realised that the urbanization andindustrialization have created enormous problemsfor the very survival of human beings. Accordinglyhe advised poeple to go back to villages and getthemselves involved in handicraft and cottageindustries which are labour-centric and which helpin keeping the environment clean and green. Hebelieved in the principle of simple living and highthinking and to him prevention is always betterthan cure. According to him, industrializationflourishes on exploitation of both man and Nature.Believing in the doctrine of live and let live, Gandhilaid emphasis on peaceful coexistence andreverence for all living beings. His policy of non-violence has an effect on reduction of carbon footprints. He used to tell “non-violence is the law ofour species as violence is the law of the brute”.The essence of Gandhian philosophy is to



transform the individual and society simultaneouslyin accordance with the principles of truth and non-violence. Gandhi developed those ideologies fromBhagvad Gita, Jainism, Buddhism, Bible etc.Tolstoy’s book ‘The kingdom of God is withinyou’ had a deep influence on Gandhi. Gandhi’spolicy of satyagraha means exercise of non-violence method against all forms of injustice,oppression and exploitation. In Western valueshe observed craze for comfort and luxury,multiplication of wants and self-indulgence whichcould lead to greed, conflict and suppression ofthe weak by the strong. His slogan “small isbeautiful” has got a very deep meaning. “Let uswipe every tear from every eye” was the mottoof Gandhiji. Once in course of conversation,English historian Edward Thompson told Gandhijiabout the gradual disappearance of wildlife inIndia to which he replied “wildlife is decreasingin the jungles, but it is increasing in the towns.”Gandhiji expressed concern over urbanization andrapid industrialization which resulted in depletionof natural resources and presence of toxicity inair, water and soil. He was greatly influenced byJainism and Buddhism which see Nature as aliving entity and believed in harmoniousrelationship with nature. He remarked “I need noinspiration other than Nature’s. She has neverfailed me as yet. She mystifies me, bewilders me,sends me to ecstasies”. His concept of Ahimsaencompassed all living beings which include trees,plants and insects.

Gandhiji believed in Sarvodaya whichmeans welfare of all. Truth, non-violence andaparigraha are the foundation of Sarvodaya. Itseeks to build a new society on the pillars ofspiritual and moral values. Freedom, equality,

justice and fraternity are the basic tenets ofSarvodaya. Gandhi wanted welfare of all throughthe principle of Swadeshi which is his vision foreconomic development. The economic ideas ofGandhi bears close resemblance with ecologicaleconomics. It has concern for future generationsand long term sustainability which ensures minimumuse of natural resources. Gandhiji’s concern forconservation of nature is reflected in hispublications ‘Hind Swaraj’ and ‘My experimentswith truth’ and journals like ‘Harijan’, ‘YoungIndia’ and ‘Navjivan’. He was giving priority tosanitation, hygiene and cleanliness and urged thepeople to minimize their wants so that there willbe less burden on Nature. He viewed sanitationas more important than independence andcleanliness as godliness. To him, the ever risingpolulation, glaring poverty and unplannedurbanization are hindrance to eco-friendlyenvironment which has its effect on limited naturalresources. The road to happiness lies when welearn to live in harmony with Nature. If thecherished dream of Gandhiji is put into practicethen we will certainly be able to preserve ourplanet from the brink of disaster. The goal of ourlife is to live in agreement and not in conflict withthe Nature. Therefore, Gandhiji had rightly said‘You must be the change you wish to see in theworld.’ The future depends on what we do today.

Jayanta Kumar Das, Patia, Bhubaneswar-751031,E-mail : [email protected].



"We must try to preserve whatever is left ofour forests and the wildlife that inhabits them."

- Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

I. INTRODUCTION

Turtles (Latin word tortuca-a tortoise)are any of several marine and freshwater reptileswith bodies enclosed in a bony shell similar tothat of the tortoises, but which have flippers orwebbed toes for excellent swimming. This termis seen to have been associated with turtledove(wild dove), turtle graphics (computing on-screendrawing and plotting that involves using a turtle,turtle-neck a round close –fitting neckline thatcomes up higher than a crew neck but not so highas polo neck), and turtle soup (a type of soupmade from the harder parts of the sea-turtle andtraditionally flavoured with a combination ofaromatic herbs, e.g, basil, marjoram, chervil,savoury and fennel).

All the reptiles are cold blooded animalsas they depend on external environment toregulate their body temperature. Among reptiliananimals, three different forms of body areobserved. First type is lizard with derso-ventrallyflattered body. Second category is elongated typewhich is of cylindrical body from like in skinksand snakes. Finally, the third form is the body

formed with fused backbones like tortoises andturtles.

Indian reptilian fauna are very uniqueranging in size from gigantic elongated estuarinecrocodile measuring length more than eight metreto wall lizards or geckos of few centimetre in totallength. More than 530 species of reptiles arereported to occur in India out of which 197 speciesare endemic. In Odisha, 131 species of reptiles(3 species of crocodilians, 17 species of turtles,31 species of lizards and 80 species of snakes)are enlisted and reported.

II. TYPES OF TURTLES IN THEWORLD

There are over 310 species of turtles inthe world which are divided into three majorcategories or groups as stated below.

1) Tortoises or land turtles found on land

2) Freshwater turtles or terrapins found infreshwater

3) Marine turtles found in sea on marine(saline) environment

There are 13 families in the order. Theorigin of turtles dates back 220 million years agomaking them older than both crocodiles andsnakes. In geological time scale, reptiles like

Olive Ridley Turtle :The Curiosity of World and Pride of Odisha

Prof. Prafulla Kumar Mohanty



turtles are believed to have originated duringMesozoic era having three periods namelyTriassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous.

There are seven types of sea turtles inthe world (Table-1) which are distributed invarious parts of the sea. Six out of the sevenspecies namely loggerhead, green, leatherback,hawksbill, Kemp’s and Olive Ridley can be foundthroughout the ocean in both warm and coolwaters.

In Odisha, turtles and tortoises of variousspecies under five different families are noticed(Table-2).

Table-1 - Types of sea turtles in the world

Common name Biological Major distribution( Scientific)name

Loggerhead Caetta caretta United States

Green turtle Chelonia mydas East coast ofFlorida

Leatherback Dermochelys Pacific coasts ofcoriacea Mexico, Costa

Rica, CoastalMalaysia

Hawksbill Eretmochelys Yemen, Northimbricata eastern Australia,

Red sea, Carribean,Oman

Kemp’s Ridley Lepidochelys Rancho Nuevo,kempii Mexico

Olive Ridley Lepidochelys Pacific coast ofolivacea Mexico, Costa

Rica, IndianOcean

Flatback Natator Northern coastaldepressus area of Australia,

Gulf of Papua,New Guinea

Table-2 - Turtles and tortoises of Odishabelonging to the order Chelonia

Name of the Biological name of thefamily species

Geoemydidae 1) Batagur baska (Gray 1831)2) Melanochelys trijuga

indopeninsularis (Anandale,1913)

3) Melanochelys tricarinata(Blyth,1856)

4) Pangshura tecta (Gray, 1831)5) Pangshura tentoria (Gray,

1834)

Cheloniidae 6) Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus,1758)

7) Eretmochelys imbricata(Linnaeus,1766)

8) Lepidochelys olivacea(Eschscholtz,1829)

Dermochelyidae 9) Dermochelys coriacea(Vandelli, 1761)

Testudinidae 10) Geochelone elegans(Schoeff, 1795)

11) Indotestudo elongata (Blyth,1854)

Trionychidae 12) Nilssonia gangetica (Cuvier,1825)

13) Nilssonia hurum(Gray,1831)

14) Nilssonia leithii (Gray, 1872)15) Pelochelys cantorii (Gray,

1864)16) Chitra indica (Gray, 1831)17) Lissemys punctata punctata

(Bonnaterre,1789)18) Lissemys punctata

andersoni (Webb,1980)

III. NOMENCLATURE OF OLIVERIDLEY TURTLE

The Olive Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelysolivacea), also known as the Pacific Ridley seaturtle, is a medium-sized species of sea turtle



(Fig.1) found in warm and tropical waters,primarily in the Pacific and Indian oceans. OliveRidley sea turtles were discovered by HenryNicholas Ridley (a botanist, geologist, naturalist)on the Coast of Fernando De Noronha Island inBrazil, in the year 1887. It is also named OliveRidley sea turtle due to its greenish olive carapaceand skin and discoverer H.N. Ridley. Turtle is avertebrate of reptilian group like snakes, lizards,crocodiles, spheondon and tortoises. These arereptiles, because of the characteristic feature suchas presence of hard dorsal body covering calledcarapace (Fig. 2) and ventral covering calledplastron (Fig. 3). These coverings are outer bodycovering (exoskeleton) which are modified hardscales. The second characteristic is creeping habit.The biological or zoological or scientific name ofthe Olive Ridley turtle is Lepidochelys olivacea.

Fig.1 Structure of Olive Ridley sea turtle.

Fig.2 Dorsal body covering of turtle(carapace).

Fig.3 Ventral body covering of turtle(plastron).

IV. STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS

1. Weight: It weighs 40-50 kg for averageadults where as hatchlings weigh 28g.

2. Length: It measures about 55-80cm fornesting females and hatchlings are about 1.5 inch(4cm).

3. Morphologically it appears Olive orgrayish-green, with a heart–shaped top shell(carapace) having 6-9 pairs of lateral scutes with1-2 claws on their flippers (Fig. 4). Hatchlingsemerge mostly black with a greenish hue on thesides (Fig. 5).

Fig. 4 Limbs of the turtle called flipper.



4. The exact life span is unknown, but sexualmaturity occurs at about 15 years old.

5. The food consists of marine organismssuch as alagae, lobsters, crabs, tunicates,molluscs, shrimps, and fish.

Fig.5 Hatchlings of Olive Ridley sea turtleat Gahirmatha.

V. NESTING

Although commonly referred to as thePacific Ridley, the Olive Ridley is not exclusivelyfound in the Pacific Ocean. It is globally distributedin the tropical regions of the South Atlantic andIndian Oceans. These live in sea, but on land theyare seen during nesting period. They prefer towarmer latitudes, bays and lagoons, which arefairly shallow because that is where they spendtime feeding and sunbathing. Vast majority of OliveRidley turtles are seen in the beaches of Mexicoand California. The Olive Ridley turtles prefer toa dry season for laying their eggs.

Odisha is significant with respect to OliveRidley turtles because of three mass nestingrookeries namely Gahirmatha, Devi and Rusikulyasituated along the coast of Odisha (480 kilometerwhich is 8% of the total Indian coast line) wherethe unique phenomenon of mass nesting occursalmost every year after mating between male andfemale in the sea (Fig.6). In fact, Gahirmatha is

recorded to be the largest nesting ground of theOlive Ridley turtles in the world. In Gahirmatha,they lay their eggs during December to April. AtGahirmatha, mass nesting occurs twice, onceduring January and February followed by secondmass nesting during March. Gahirmatha of Odishais the largest nesting ground of these turtles in theworld because of virgin land (undisturbed) andcongenial environment. They also lay eggs in thecoasts of Odisha like Devi river and Rusikulyariver, which are the sites of connecting link (rivermouth) between river and sea (estuarine domain).The sand grains of these coastline offers suitableniche for excavation, retention of moisture,regulation of temperature and comfortableemergence of hatchlings.

Fig.6 Mating pair of Olive Ridley seaturtle. Bottom is female and top is male.

VI. NESTING GROUNDS

Olive Ridley turtles are best known fortheir behaviour of synchronized nesting in massnumbers, termed arribada (Fig.7). The term“arribada” is a Spanish term, the meaning of whichis arrival. Some major nesting grounds areGahirmatha in Odisha, scattered near CoromandelCoast and Sri Lanka, Tropical Eastern Pacific,



Central America and Mexico, and Playa Nancitebeach in Costa Rica.

Olive Ridleys generally prefer to nest onsmall isolated almost virgin beaches. They like finehard and larger sand grains with sufficient moistureand avoid the vegetation areas. Generally massemergence takes place two hours after and beforethe high tide. Nesting takes place at night. Beforeemergence out of water, the turtle waits a while,lifts her head up and then crawls out. The crawlfor site selection is not in a straight line. It movesin zigzag manner to find a suitable place for nesting.They always prefer to a high place for digging.Once the nest site is selected, the turtle movesaround sweeping the sand by its fore flippers, withthe hind flipper working in an alternating rhythmwith the front flipper. She makes a shallow pit of10-15 cm before digging the nest properly (Fig.8).

After 3-5 minutes of nest preparation,hind flippers begin to scoop out the egg pit. Thehind flippers continue dig the pit, which may beoval, flask shaped or cylindrical. Once the pit iscomplete, the turtle rests a while and then it lowerits tail into cavity with the everted cloacal portion.The eggs may be extruded singly or two at a time(Fig. 9). Mucus (a slimy fluid) coating the eggs isfrequently secreted between the egg extrusion.The shape of the eggs is spherical (Fig.10), thesize of the normal eggs is 3.4 - 3.8 cm in diameterand weight is about 28-30g. Filling the nest cavitybegins immediately after the last egg has been laid.The hind flippers then scoop sand alternately fromthe side of the pit and dump it on the opening.Filling the body pit and concealing the site: Thehind flippers collect sand from the side and pressit towards the centre and the animal compactsthe nest by thumping by its plastron. It obliteratesthe nest by throwing sand by the fore flippers and

then they return to the sea. During the return, theythrow the sand by flippers in such a way that noone can know the egg laying site, arrival anddeparture route.

Fig.7 Mass nesting of Olive Ridley seaturtles (Arribada) at Gahirmatha, Odisha.

Fig.8 Egg-laying of Olive Ridley in a pit madein sand of the sea shore. Eggs are releasedfrom everted cloaca.



Fig. 9 Egg laying (two at a time or one) withmucus by Olive Ridley sea turtle in sand pitmade by the female turtle at Gahirmatha seacoast.

Fig.10 Spherical shape of the egg laid by thefemale Olive Ridley in the sand pit ofGahirmatha.

VII. MIGRATION OF OLIVE RIDLEY

After making their way above the high-tide line, the females lay their eggs and afternesting season, depending on the distance, thismigration may take several months. When fullydeveloped, hatchlings break through their eggshell(Fig.11), and slowly dig their way to thesurface, typically en masse. This process can takea few days. Eggs incubated at temperature 31-32 degree Centigrade will produce only females,eggs incubated at 28 degree Centigrade or lesswill solely produce males. That means the sex ofthe hatchlings are temperature dependant. After

this period, the juvenile turtles move into highlyproductive feeding areas to finish growing, aprocess that can take as little as a few years andas long as a few decades. After acquiringsufficient resources, adult males and femalesmigrate to breeding areas to mate and, in case offemales to nest. Although a female typically onlyneeds mating with one male to obtain enoughsperm to fertilize all of her eggs in a season,multiple paternity is common in sea turtles. Likefemales, male turtles show natal homing, but visitbroader areas and more sites than females do.Females stay near their nesting beach during thenesting season, which can last one to two months.

Fig.11 Hatchling of Olive Ridley sea turtleemerging out by breaking of the egg.

VIII. LONGEVITY: A BEAUTY OFTURTLES

Turtles and tortoises are some of the mostlong lived members of the reptilian family. Evensmall species that are typically kept as pets, likebox turtles and terrapins live between 30 and 40years if they are kept healthy. Large species suchas marine or sea turtles are estimated to live about80 years. The giant tortoise, the largest of all landturtles, typically lives at least a century (100 years).Some have even been known to live for morethan 200 years. One reason of turtles to have such



long life span is believed due to their slowness.Turtles continue to grow very slowly throughouttheir lives. This prevents them from aging in thesame way birds and mammals do. Because ofslow metabolism, they can survive for a longerperiod without food and water, which also givesthem a greater chance of survival in harshcondition.

IX. TURTLE EXCLUDER DEVICE (TED)

It is a special device that allows acaptured sea turtle to escape when caught in afisherman’s net. The use of device ideally allowsby catch larger than 10cm to escape the netsunharmed (Fig. 12). This selectivity is achievedby metal grids integrated into the trawl netstructure. The grids act as a barrier for largecreatures such as turtles from passing through thebars into the back of the net. A small opening inthe net is then available, either above or belowthe grid so that the creatures that are stopped bythe TEDs are allowed to escape the net, (Fig.13)relatively unharmed. Target species such as shrimpare, however, pushed back of the net. This deviceis inserted into shrimp trawl nets to reduceaccidental bycatch of turtles. The first TED“Georgia Jumper” by name was invented bySinkey Boone in the late 1960s. Recently, a TEDnamed as CIFT-TED is designed by ICAR -Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT),Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh having itsheadquarters in Kochi, Kerala.

Fig.12 Turtle excluder device (TED) toescape from the fisherman’s net.

Fig.13 Escape of the Olive Ridley sea turtlefrom the TED.

X. LEGAL MEASURES FOR SAFETYAND SECURITY OF POPULATION

The State Government is highly carefulfor the conservation of the endangered speciesof Olive Ridley turtles along with the coast ofOdisha. State High Court of Odisha is seriousabout this matter which is evidenced from thedirective of May 14, 1998. High Court directsthat all trawlers operating in the area need to useTED to prevent sea turtles from getting entangledin the fishing nets. The direction was issued onthe basis of suggestion by experts on turtle. OnFebruary 23, the High Court had registered a suomotu PIL on alarming death of Olive Ridley turtlesand appointed an amicus curiae.

Subsequently, the High Court hadconstituted a three member panel to formulatemeasures for the protection of both the turtles andtheir habitats. Among other directions, the HighCourt had directed the committee to ascertain thestatus of implementation of the order of May 14,1998. It is reported that during the last five yearsalone, 252 trawlers have been seized insideGahirmatha marine wildlife sanctuary and inRusikulya estuary, but not a single trawler hadTED to prevent entanglement of ridleys. This is amatter of grave concern.

Realising the gravity of the use of TED,the Orissa High Court in March, 2021 asserted



that there is an urgent need to ensure that patrollingis stepped up to have an effective check overillegal trawling activities at Gahirmatha, theworld’s largest rookery for Olive Ridley seaturtles. The court expected the patrolling to bemade effective by providing the enforcementteams with adequate equipment and vehicles.

The assertion came after amicus curiae,Sri Mohit Agarwal, submitted a report on analarming incident in which fishermen in illegallyoperating trawlers ganged up and attacked apatrolling boat at Gahirmatha coast, leaving theboost damaged and its patrolling staff got injuredon March 15, 2021. Expressing concern over“The impunity with which the illegally operatingtrawlers are able to violate the law’’, the benchof Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice BPRoutray directed the Regional Chief Conservatorof Forest (RCCF), Bhubaneswar Circle, “topersonally oversee the steps being taken and toensure strict compliance with the directions issuedby the court in coordination with the districtadministration”.

Strengthening the law and implement ofthe regulation is expected to protect and save thelives of these gigantic marine creatures.Remembering, respecting and realising theimportance of Olive Ridley, the State Governmentof Odisha considered to place Olive Ridley asmascot or logo in 22nd edition of the AsianAthletics Championships held from 6 to 9 July,2017 at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha(Fig.14). The name of the logo was “Olly” (Fig.15), which was an attraction in Asian Athletics inOdisha. Our sports mascot OLLY representingthe vulnerable Olive Ridley sea turtles was createdto raise awareness about preserving the habitatof these migratory guests who coexist with us inthis beautiful planet (Fig. 16).

Fig. 14 Olive Ridley turtle as mascot in 22nd

Asian Athletics Championships, Odishaheld during 06th to 09th July, 2017 at KalingaStadium, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.

Fig. 15 Our sports mascot of 22nd AsianAthletics Championships, Olly to createawareness of conservation of Olive Ridleysea turtles worldwide.



Fig.16 The role of the state government ofOdisha to popularise and create awarenessabout Olive Ridley sea turtle through mascotOLLY in international level during AsianAthletics Championships, 2017 organized atBhubaneswar, Odisha where around 560athletes from 41 nations (countries)participated. Olly was moving in theplayground and had been attracting theattention of players and viewers.

XI.CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION

In order to successfully conserve aspecies, one must have a clear idea of the factorscontributing to its decline. While some onshorethreats may be more visible, offshore factors suchas fishery related mortality either at the breedingground or along the migratory route maycontribute much more significantly to the declineof the population. In 2002, a Turtle InterpretationCentre was set up in Bhubaneswar with thesupport of Ford India, to spread awareness aboutthe need for turtle conservation activities. Further,to strengthen awareness and conservation, everyyear World Turtle Day or International Turtle Dayis observed on 23rd May and World Sea TurtleDay on 16th June.

Because of the decline in their numbers,the law protects sea turtles, nationally andinternationally. In India, all the sea turtles are listedin Scheduled I of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.The Convention for International Trade inEndangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES)has listed all the sea turtles under Appendix I. TheInternational Union for Conservation of Natureand Natural Resources (IUCN) has categorizedOlive Ridley as “Endangered”. The WildlifeProtection Society of India (WPSI) launchedoperation Kachhapa in 1998 in collaboration withthe Odisha State Forest Department, the WildlifeInstitute of India (WII), Dehradun and the WildlifeSociety of Odisha to safeguard the future of OliveRidley, the pride of Odisha as well as world.

"A threat to any species of plant and animallife is a threat to man himself. "

- Mrs Indira Gandhi

References :

1. Anandale N (1912) The aquatic chelonian of theMahanadi and its tributaries. Records of IndianMuseum, 7:261-266.

2. Behera S, Mohapatra PP and Dutta SK (2019)Turtles and Tortoises of Odisha. OdishaBiodiversity Board. Department of Forest andEnvironment. Government of Odisha, pp 1-109.

3. Biswas S and Acharjyo LN (1984) Note on thestudy of three species of river turtles in Orissa.Bulletin of Zoological Survey of India, 6 (1-3) :219-222.

4. Biswas S and Acharjyo LN (1984) Observationson Geochelone elegans (Scoepff) in captivity inOrissa. Journal of Bombay Natural HistorySociety (BNHS), 81(3) : 707.

5. Das I (1987) Status and distrbution of estuarineturtle in India. Marine Fisheries InformationService, 72: 21-22.

Our sports mascot OLLY representing the vulnerableOlive Ridley sea turtles is created to raise awareness

about preserving the habitat of these migratoryguests who co-exist with us in this beautiful planet.

Let's play perfect hosts to them every year.



6. Dash MC and Kar CS (1990) The Turtle Paradise:Gahirmatha. Interpret, New Delhi, pp 1-295.

7. Fritz U and Havas P (2007) Checklist of cheloniansof the world at the request of CITES NomenclatureCommittee and the German Agency for NatureConservation. Vertebrate Zoology, 57(2) : 149-368.

8. Singh LAK (1985) Notes on tracking andterrestrial activity of the freshwater turtleKachuga tentoria in river Mahanadi, Orissa.Journal of Bombay Natural History Society(BNNS), 82(2) : 414 - 417.

9. Smith MA (1931) The Fauna of British India.Volume-1 (Loricata: Testudines). Taylor andFrancis, London, pp. 1-283.

10. Tikader BK (1983) Threatened Animals of India.Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Calcutta, pp 1-307.

11. Vijaya J (1982) Pelochelys bibroni fromGahiramatha coast, Orissa, Hamadryad, 7(3) : 17.

12. Webb Robert G (1997) Geographic variation inthe giant soft shell turtle Pelochelys bibroniLinnaeus. Fund Research Report. ChelonianConservation Biology, 2(3) : 450.

Prof. Prafulla Kumar Mohanty, Vice-Chancellor,Khallikote University, Brahmapur, Ganjam, Odisha-761008, E-mail : [email protected].



The power of the feminine,an embodiment of Shakti,the quintessence of the universe,and the conqueror of evil forces,the triple-eyed Goddess,with the trident adornedin Your hand, You defeatedthe demon Mahishasura.

Since then, we have been payingobeisance before Your lotus feet,and Your resplendent idol,gloriously carrying onthe vitality for millennia.

You are the Supreme Being,the very essence of motherhood,always bestowing upon usYour bountiful grace.

Hail Mother Goddess !May You keep pouring outYour divine blessings,and bring afresh peace and loveacross the globe.

Dr. Jashaswini Mishra, Qrs. No.- N/152,New L.I.C. Colony, Badambadi, Cuttack.

O Durga Maa

Dr. Jashaswini Mishra



British Policy is “Divide and Rule”Our diversity is in caste and religionwent in favour of East India company.Engulfed entire nation without interruption.

Although they were few,but with Indians ruled over Indians.Because man is selfish.Indian Police tortured Indians as in Eram toplease their European boss.How Foolish !!

If tide becomes satanic, Ebb tide is divine,yields fertility and when British Administrationbecame Satanic Gandhiji preachedNon-Violence, Ram Dhun.

Gandhiji initially an individual void of unity,arms and armaments and so preferred Ebb tide,wanted to provoke divinity in European’ssatanic mind.

Gandhiji’s principle was if one slaps on onecheek, show other.Because man is built of divineand satanic attitudes.Divineness will be provoked within.

He Exhibited his divineness byobserving truth, Non-Violence.Preached others alikeThrough honesty united all among diversities.Unity drove out British “Divide & Rule” satanic.

While begging, Buddha was misbehaved by a lady.He didn’t mind but lady repented.

When Buddha begged next morn,she offered, begged apology with regret.

Buddha replied, yesterday’s lady was different.I don’t carry praise or abuse.Perform duty.One who harms today will showcompassion tomorrow.Gandhiji provoked divinity.

Gandhiji preached all truth, Non-Violencewithout social prejudice, caste and religion.He was saint among politicians,engrossed in Ram Dhun,like politician among saints led the nation.

Lord Ram offered many chances toRavan to return Sita, to avoid battle.But didn’t. 'Quit India','Do or Die' was Gandhiji’s last toil.

Bhagavan Vishnu is armed with Sankha,Chakra, Gada, Padma to have properadministration and make the world run whenSankha, Gada, Padma fail, applies wheel.

He accorded sufficient opportunities to British.Helped in second world war.They didn’t Listen. Lastly declared “Quit India”,“Do or Die”. Patience is essence,endurance is fragrance, we learn !!

Er. Raghunath Patra, Brundaban Dham,Lokanath Road, (Patnahat Sahi Square), Puri - 752001.

The Truth and Vitality of Gandhism

Er. Raghunath Patra



I had not seen Gopapur,I saw GopapurThat holy soil wasBirthplace of our Gopabandhu.That village has become famousFor the heavenly personBeing born there.

He was not a manBut took his incarnationFor saving the downtrodden people.I touched my forehead to that soil todayAnd made my life sublime.

The village where he spent his childhoodAnd had ensoiled his bodyBy playing on that ground,I took that soil on my foreheadAnd made my life sublime.

Where the first fire was lightedOn his birth,Though born as a human childHe was really a heavenly messanger,The cot on which he sleptWhen he was a child,Where he was engrossed in thinkingFor helping the poor and the helpless person,That Suando villagePut a memory line on my heart’s paper

From where he united his friendsTo go on his flightTo dryout tears from theEyes of innumerable affected people,Put a memory line on my heart’s paper.I saw that village on the bank of Bhargabiand made my life sublime.

The house where the poet ofThe famous chanting‘Let my body be mixed with this country’s soil’was born,I touched my forehead to that soilAnd made my life sublime.

That was not at all a small houseBe it called a great temple.

Let every people of the Country

Visit his birthplaceAnd make their lives sublime.It will be dishonouredTo describe him as a manSince he was

Really a heavenly person.

Hansanath Muduli, Khandagiri (Dumduma - A),Bhubaneswar - 751030.

Birthplace of Gopabandhu

Hansanath Muduli



Bargarh is noteworthy for so many reasons,The freedom fighting of women I do mention.In this movement peoples took active parts,Parbati Giri the fire maiden is counted first.

She was born at Samlaipadar nearby Bijepur,By her good deed brought enough glory to Bargarh sure.She followed footprints of Mahatma Gandhi,And displayed an ideal role and made strategy.

She revolted against the mighty Britishers,Nothing restricted her to raise the voice stronger.Malati Devi, Rama Devi, Jambubati of Bargarh,They were her predecessors to guide well enough.

Once she with her troop occupied Bargarh court,She gave verdict to the rulers in her clear throat.She was arrested and put then to imprisonment,She made no apology for her disobedience.

She was told Mother Teresa and the fire maiden,Who always raised voices for the downtrodden.After independence keeping away from politics,She started Nrusinghanath orphanage with bliss.

Phuljharan Bal Niketan is also her contribution,The entire life she sacrificed for only the nation.Being the fire maiden she took many measures,Educating orphans she is remembered for ever.

Dr. Bhubaneswar Pradhan, Asst. Teacher, Kangaon High School,Bargarh- 768033, E-mail : [email protected]

Parbati Giri the Fire Maiden of Odisha

Dr. Bhubaneswar Pradhan



The monumental victory, the remarkable achievement.Outstanding performance, mesmerizing feat.A milestone, a turning point in Odishan sports history.A memorable event, an indomitable will against all odds.

Indian Men's Hockey Team's winningBronze medal in Tokyo Olympicsis an epoch making event in history.

After a wait of forty one years,We achieved this prestigious victory.Grit, determination, unwavering will andpainstaking attitude brought us fame and glory.Insurmountable difficulties were disappeared beforeOur indomitable will and courageous effort.

Odisha government's tacit support and passionatedevotion was a morale booster for the players.It's sponsorship of Hockey when nobody was willingto take the risk was a manna from heavenfor the untiring Hockey players.

The foresight, the vision, the proactive attitude,the commitment and investment inHockey paid rich dividends.Such patriotism is praiseworthy and adorable.

Our Odisha Hockey players brought laurels for our state.Amit Rohidas and Virendra Lakra,part of the winning Indian Hockey teamincreased the stature and image of Odisha in theinternational arena of games and sports.It will be written in golden letters in the annals Odishan history.Odisha salutes their selflessness and patriotic fervour.

Prabhudutt Dash, Plot No.307, Haladipadia, Sarala Nagar, Laxmisagar, Bhubaneswar-751006.

Tokyo Victory In Hockey : An Odishan Noble Gesture

Prabhudutt Dash



We are all alone todayme and my cappuccinoit’s speaking to me in urgent low whisperssuggesting random names of friendsi can call to ward off my ugly thoughtswe are all alone todayme and my cappuccinomy phone book is filled with a thousandnumbersbut i stare at them blanklychoosing one to call and thencutting it off midway.

There’s no one i trust not to laugh at me,at my predicamentsitting all alone with my cappuccinoon this new year’s dayin a café which is mercifullyempty of staring judging eyesi persuade my cappuccino to below and sweeti want to numb this indistinct mutterin my head.

CappuccinoDr. Sonali Mohapatra

We are all alone todayme and my cappuccinosince i stormed off from my placein a huff of something i can’t seemto figure out anymorethe only person i can call andshare my stupidity withhas his phone switched offand so we are all alone todayme and my cappuccinoin this out of the way, desertedcoffeeshop.

Dr. Sonali Mohapatra, Space Quantum TechnologiesDeveloper, Craft Prospect and University ofStrathclyde, Author of Leaking Ink Founder of carvedvoices.com, Glasgow, UK, www.sonalimohapatra.in,[email protected]



Forms and Places of Worshipat Colonial Cuttack

Dr. Pramod Kumar Mohanty

Culture was an important site of colonialhegemony. Cultural encounter in colonial India isa complex phenomenon.1 Colonialism representsa systematic attempt to transform the culture ofthe subject nation by transforming latter’s customs,traditions and social organizations, and byintroducing new boundaries between peoples anderasing others through the institutionalization ofracism and the creation of new ethnicities. Thus,colonial encounter remains one of the mostcontested terrains in human history, more so inIndian context of cultural diversity, and the unevenpace of colonising that varied from region to regionand locality to locality, and even within the locality.Cities and towns were the points of intense culturalinteraction and served as the principal nodes ofintroducing alien colonial culture into colonisedsociety. They became the cultural crucibles andthe major transformative agents in their regions,since new beliefs and practices frequentlyemerged from such centres and diffusedoutwards.

The paper examines the forms and theplaces of worship at colonial Cuttack thatreflected its multicultural population professingdifferent religions and belonging to different sectsand castes, which were a composite of both oldand new practices. In the process it elucidates

the larger historical context that framed andshaped neo-forms and places of worshipengenderd at Cuttack during the period.

Historiographical Tradition

Colonialism, apart from being a political,was a cultural2 encounter as well, between thecolonising and colonized. The culture is used inthis study neither as an unimportant adjunct ofthe material transformation of cities nor a purelysymbolic realm for differentiating social roles.Culture used here is both dependent and variablehaving significant material consequences. In tunewith the fashion of the cultural historians it mainlyconcerns itself with values and symbols, whereverthese are found in the everyday life of ordinarypeople.3

Forms & Places of Worship at ColonialCuttack

Forms and the places of worship atcolonial Cuttack reflected its multiculturalpopulation professing different religions andbelonging to different sects and castes, whichwere a composite of both old and new practices.Its pantheon of gods and goddesses, and therituals involving them were drawn from severalsources: tribal, folk, Sanskritic, Saivite, Vaisnavite,Sakti, Jain, Buddhist, Sikh, Christian, Odia, Tamil,



Telugu, Bengali, etc. The worship of Nataraja,Narasimha, Naga, etc., pointed to its South Indianorigin; and the Vedic gods to North India. Themysterious Sakti worship was a typicalrepresentative of East Indian variety. Names ofdifferent localities and the rituals specific to themwere also reminiscent of the leading persons whofounded them and the ways of life associated withpeople living there as well as the changes theyhave undergone in the course of their passage inhistory. Several legends & folk tales areassociated with them, which probably carry thesilent voices that need to be vocalised. Thus,Jhanjirimangala reminds us of the Sanskritisationof a tribal deity into the Hindu pantheon as theSakti Goddess Sitala with all such ritual changesin the process.4 Likewise, Meriabazar, going byits nomenclature, either points to an uncertainpedigree of the erstwhile practice of humansacrifice by the Kandh tribes who probablyresided here in the ancient past, when it was fullof jungles or to Mahurias, a lower caste peopleearning their livelihood by blowing mahuri (a kindof instrument blown with mouth) on auspiciousoccasions, as Ainsle’s report of 1814 mentions aplace called Mahooreabazar that in due coursein all likelihood became Meriabazar. Thoriasahiprobably reminds us of the packed bullocks usedby the itinerant traders of the yore to carry theirmerchandise. Likewise, the stone embankmentat Cuttack (now buried under ring road) carrieslegends romanticizing immortal acts of not onlythe royalty but also the common men in the cityto protect it from the recurrent threats of theriverine floods.5 The dam was not only amarvelous piece of engineering feat of the nativesbut also was an ideal platform of the popularculture, as the site was being daily frequented bypeople of different hues for chit-chat, gossip,conviviality, relishing the delicacies from the

swarming hawker/vendors (Cuttack was/isfamous for such hawkers in umpteen numbers)as well as for solemn meditative and the creativeliterary thoughts. The place Ranihat was either atraditional hat/bazaar meant for queen’s shoppingor under the patronage of queen king during theroyal days or was associated with the origin of astyle of Odissi Kirtan (a chorous laity gathering),called Reniti/Ranihati.6 Along with neighbouringMangalabag, it was the centre of horn-works craftin the city and produced a wide range of productslike comb, birds, konark wheel, hand stick, etc.;which had achieved wide popularity both withinand outside Odisha. Trading importance of theplace is evident from the fact that the Marwaritrading communities mostly belonging toDigambar and Terapanthi sects of Jainism havehad been living there and at the contiguous CollegeSquare. Deolasahi has been conjectured as thepossible site of the famed (Purusottam) temple inpast that was built by Anangabhima III anddestroyed by Feroz Shah Tughluq, but no tracesof it are found— a mystery that needs to beresolved. At present it houses NrusinghanathRaghunath Jew Mandir. Gangamandir celebratesthe worship of nature in the form of river byincarnating her as Goddess Gangamata (namedafter the sacred river the Ganga) in the Hindupantheon and its association with the tradition offishermen; who seemed to be along with milkmen,potter, carpenter, weaver and occasionally barberand washermen; the original inhabitants of Cuttackin the Mahanadi delta given its riverine topographythat was dotted with numerous ponds and swampsswarming with fishes and crabs.7 Manyneighbourhoods in the city are named after suchcastes like Kumbharsahi, Tantisahi, Bhandarisahi,etc. Later with modern professions evolving; manydoctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers,administrators et.al.., started coming to and settling



down in the city. Killahpadia valorizes a richcultural space with elements rooted in both royaland commoner, and secular and the religioustraditions. It has had been the site of Baliyatrafestival celebrating Chaitanya’s association withthe place and the maritime tradition of Odisha, asit was the point of arrival and departure ofmerchant ships in hoary past. As a site of popularculture, it was a site akin to a traditional periodicreligious festivity centre combing elements ofmarket (merchandise included a variety both native& foreign), merrymaking & enjoyment (watchingjatras, palas, baunsarani, etc), thrills ofshopping from clothing to daily utilities, (includingsuch items as sukhua - dried fish), eating tastyfood items (like bada/dahibada – aludam, alu-gobi, etc), sermonising, chanting mantras andorganizing kirtans, etc. Jobra, apart from pointingto its tribal linkages, signifies its importance asthe site of commerce and the modern industryand transport—the site of East India Irrigation &Canal Company (founded in 1869) and the hubof steamer transport. Barabatti fort, althoughdilapidated by the vandalism of the colonisers andhad ceased to be a military and political powercentre, came to acquire cultural power as asymbol of the glorious royal and military traditionof Odisha, as it was appropriated as one of theicons by the advocates of rising Odia identity vis-a-vis the hegemony both colonisers and theircohorts. Places like Bakharabad, Buxibazar,Alamchandbazar, Dewanbazar (named afterMughal Dewan, Mirza Zafar), Azamkhanbazar,Darghabazar, Kazibazar (named after Kazi/Qazi,who lived there), Lalbag, Chandinichowk,Mansinghpatana (named after the famous generalof Akbar who defeated the Afghan rulers atCuttack), etc., owe their origin to Muslim ruleand retain distinct traces of the Islamic heritageand culture in the forms of monuments and their

nomenclature. Chandinichowk in particular wasthe integral part of the Mughal Township, wherethe citizens used to gather to have a royal glimpse,marketing, merrymaking & socializing. In colonialtimes it served the purposes of a mall road foundin a typical colonial township. Subsequent towngrowth, however, radically restructured thephysical and social demography of such places.A new composite culture in due course evolvedin which the people of diverse religious, social,linguistic and economic background lived inharmony. Muslims coexisted with Hindus & Jains,a living example of which was the satyapir cult,jointly worshipped by both Hindus and Muslims.There were exchanges of titles like Buxi, usedboth by Hindus and Muslims. Religious precinctslike Qadam-i-rasul at Darghabazar and other suchsites associated with sufis were (are) worshippedby both Muslims and Hindus. The cityrepresented a unique Hindu-Muslim culturalsynthesis, which singled out it as the only placethat witnessed no bloodshed and riot during theheyday of the communal frenzy in Indiansubcontinent during the last days of freedomstruggle in India. Telengabazar (ironically there ishardly a Telugu population at present), as per theoral tradition, reminds of the long association ofthe Telugu people with the place (fromBhaumakara days onwards, according to some);who came as soldiers, domestic servants,craftsmen (weavers, carpenters, barbers, shipbuilders, temple building masons et. al.), metalworkers (gold, silver and copper), traders,intellectuals & administrators during pre-colonialperiod; and as traders and as both skilled &unskilled labourers during the colonial period.8 Ithoused the Raghunathjew temple, where peopleused to gather for listening to Ramcharitamanasdaily. Choudhurybazar (named after oneManjunath Choudhury who had come from



Nagpur during Maratha rule), apart from beingthe main trade centre in Odisha, also celebratesthe cultural synthesis having deities of severalreligions and sects. Located here were the temples,maths (monasteries like Gopaljew) and mandaps(podiums where Durga idols were kept) of theHindu deities like Gopal, Sri Radha and Durga,the images of the Jain saints in a Jain temple (jointlyworshipped by Hindus and Jains) and a beautifultemple nearby belonging to the Nanakpanthis.Tulsipur alludes to its association with Hindutradition and housed many maths and ashramsof the monks like Garib Das, Chaitanya,Maunibaba, Mastarambaba et. al. Kaligali, apartfrom being the residence of native notables, wasalso associated with tradition of Sakti worship inthe form of ferocious looking Goddess Kali.Starting from this place the worship of Kali hasbecome a mass festival in city. Chandichhaklikewise celebrates the Sakti tradition in the formof Chandi worship, to whom people resort as theirultimate savour. In due course, it evolved as aprime centre of worship and community lifeamong the Hindus, who gathered their daily forgetting assurances and enter into newrelationships. Satichoura reminiscences itsassociation with the Hindu practices of sati ofthe yore. Dagarpara in particular reminds of thedays of royalty in the hoary past as being theresidence of kingly messengers, whichsubsequently acquired fame as the residence ofcraftsmen producing exquisite gold and silveryjewellery, and the world famous silver filigreeworks. Odiabazar probably carries the memoriesof Oriya weavers who lived there in hoary past,but its social demography have been radicallychanged owing to arrival of people from othercommunities like Muslims (predominantly) andBengalis during the subsequent times. Kaflabazar(kafila in Arabic means pilgrim troupe) reminds

of convergence of the troupes of pilgrims en routeto Jagannath Puri via Cuttack from the days ofyore. So also was the Purighat through whichpilgrims used to ferry in and out of Cuttack on itssouthern (Puri) side. Gadagadiaghat reminiscesits association with Saivism in the form of theworship of Gadgadeswar Mahadev, Vaisnavismin the way of Chaitanya’s visit to the city and thehoary maritime tradition of Odisha. The placeslike Firingibazar, Christiansahi, Societypur,Mission Road, Paetonsahi, Cantonment (thecamp of British soldiers), Chakrachandbazar(present Station Bazaar and College Square area)/Chakrachandmaidan (now the campus ofRavenshaw University) carry the Western namesthat speak eloquently of their European origin andcarry its cultural vestiges.9 Chakrachandmaidanor the associated bazaar came up to cater to theentertaining needs of the colonizers, who used toconduct horse races (particularly on specialoccasions like x-mass, new year, darbar, etc.)there frequently with collections both from themand the natives. It was a lush green grass fieldlooked pleasing to eyes where thousands gatheredto watch the pageantry of the horse race withriders putting on colourful dresses and with ahundred of police being deployed to keep thediscipline. On signal the horse riders rode withthe pace of wind. The horse that reached thespecified spot in the circular field won the awardto the restiveness of spectators who enjoyedevery moment of that with cheer and eagerlycherished to watch the event again. Initially an allEuropean affair, it came to involve the natives likerajas and zamindars from different regions inOdisha.10 Kaliaboda connects the city to Sikhtradition, as the place was consecrated by Nanakand his father who halted there en route to Puri.The gurudwara, Datansahib, stands therecelebrating such memory. Some connect



Kaliaboda etymologically to Kalu Bedi, the fatherof Nanak. Dolamundai speaks of its associationwith the worship of Radha-Krushna of Vaisnavitetradition. It was probably a site of holi celebration,where at present stands a Jagannath temple.Localities like Alamchandbazar, Azamkhanbazar,Tarachandpatana, Manisahuchhak,Madhupatana, Madhusudan Nagar, etc., werereminiscent of the leading personalities in differentfields who flocked to the city. They either lived orhad their concerns located at such places, i.e.,the industrial estate, Madhupatana that was sonamed after the pioneer modern industry inOdisha, M. S. Das. Likewise, the nameMadhusudan Nagar was given to the locality thathouse M. S. Das’ tomb (at the Christian Cemetery,called Gorakabar), his statute, a library and acultural institution named after him.

In the city as a whole there werepractitioners of Vaisnavism, Saivism, Saktism,Mahima Dharma, local cults of different hues,remnants of the ancient animistic and magicalpractices, Sikhism, Jainism (of its sects likeSvetambar, Digambar, Sthanakvasi, Terapanthi),Christianity, and Islam with its different sects likeSunni (predominantly), Shia (small in number) andthe Sufis. People although subscribed to differentreligious practices hardly cherished a rancoragainst one another. Generally, a spirit ofbonhomie and fellow-feeling undergirded theirreligious experiences. Thus, during the visit of areligious teacher (saint/acharya/dervish) the crosssections of people performed their rites and ritualswith unfettered gaiety and in a spirit of bonhomie.11

The worship of Satya Pir was one more brightexample of such spirit, in which not only bothHindus and Muslims performed the rituals andgave offerings of banana, coconut, sugar, etc., butthe language involved in such supplications were

also drawn from both Hinduism and Islam.12

Overarching nature of the sahi (neighburhoodculture)/bhaichara (fraternal bond across thecommunities) had the enough sanitizing impact ofhammering out a shared religious culture uniqueto Cuttack, where the religious celebrations hadceased to be an exclusive communitarian affairand had become a collective one involving peopleacross the communities for a large part of thecolonial rule. On its social side the special featuresof the bhaichara were to help both old andindigent sahi residents, carry the kids and theelders to hospital, lend a helping hand in marriageceremonies, carry the dead bodies to cemeteries,assimilate a stranger to sahi community, enablethe communities collectively enjoy the culturalevents like melody (musical concerts) andqawwali/mushaira, encourage the communitiesto organise and learn together in the institutionsof learning, inspire the communities and castestogether elect their joint representatives to theruling bodies, exemplary respect and protectionprovided to womenfolk, Muslims/Christianshaving expertise in Hindu scriptures andcomposing /singing devotional songs on Hindudeities and the vice versa, etc. Even thecemeteries in and around Cuttack reflect(ed) itscultural bonhomie and syncretism. There wereseveral of them specific to communities and thoseshared by several communities.13 They have hada unique place in culture as a place for crematingdead, a place for performing purifying rituals,remembering and paying homage to dead andrespectful, and a place of pilgrimage as being thesites of sages and hermits, and the great men ofculture. They had a great sanitising impact onsociety by being the place for disposal of deadand harmful, and maintained moral order in thesociety as an abode of ancestral spirits and thedreadful gods and goddesses like Siva & Kali,



who took active interest in seeing that moral orderprevailed in the society otherwise they wouldphysically intervene by purging the evils by evenviolent means. The youth cultural associations likeYoung Men’s Christian Association, Muslim YouthCultural Club and Rastriya Swayam Sevak Sangh,even though propelled by separate ideals andworking for specific communities, never opposedone another. It was the high profile communalpolitics of the 30s & 40s of twentieth century thattried to impinge markedly on the sharedcommunitarian bond. But the sahi/bhai caharaculture ultimately triumphed in creating a livablebond across the communities and castes thatpreempted any religious and caste riots unlike inother cities in India.14

The encounter of eastern and westerncultures that characterized the new age led to anew thinking in religion that threw up many newreligious practices like Brahmodharma ofBrahma Samaj, Vedantism of Arya Samaj,Vedantic Socialism of Ramkrishna Mission,Mahima Dharma, etc. All of which talked of thevalue of wisdom and the worship of truth/brahma/sunya (void) by shedding all exterior religiousformalities and rituals, and the caste and idolatry.By advocating unity and love for the wholehumanity, they put emphasis on developing humancharacter by renouncing selfishness and cultivatinglove, purity and kindness. They were imbued withthe nationalistic and patriotic spirit, and advocatedpursuit of spirituality by eliminating self-interests.All these reflected the renaissance spirit and anurge on the part of people to create a moreegalitarian social order. Such neo-religiouspractices became particularly fashionable with theeducated class at Cuttack, as it became the centralto such neo-religious movements in Odisha.Brahmo movement was the earliest of such

movements, which came to symbolize thecollective identity of the English educated neo-rich, and became a passport to power, influenceand the jobs. The movement was first brought toCuttack by Munsif Mahendra Ray in 1849.Devendranath Tagore’s visit to the city in 1850led to founding of a branch of Adi-Brahmo Samajin the house of Dy. Magistrate Jagamohan Ray atOdia bazar with the assistance of city’s notables,which in due course contributed to the growth ofits membership and the spread of its ideals inOdisha. The movement was subsequently carriedforward by the Utkal Brahmo Samaj that wasfounded at Cuttack on 1st July 1869 by its ZillahSchool headmaster, Harnath Bhattacharya. Hewas instrumental to bring two most prominentmembers of the movement: M.S Rao and P.M.Acharya. It was situated on an acre of land thewest side of the Gangamandir Pond with “ombhamo krupa hi kevalam,” inscribed on it,where religious discourses used to take placeevery Sunday. The Samaj used to celebrate itsestablishment day on 24th January annually thatcoincided with the birthday of its founder, RajaRammohan Roy. The celebration wasaccompanied by the house decorations, feasting,kirtan procession on the streets and the religiousdiscourses for two days. Soon the Samaj had itsnewspaper, Utkal Subhakari, founded by oneBhagabati Charan Das.15 The movement laterdrew a number of notable persons in the city, asit became the symbol of elite status and providedleverage to power and pelf.16 A Brahmo Mandir(temple) was built in the centre of city at Odiabazar in 1871 with donations raised by JagamohanLala and the financial assistance fromDevendranath Tagore. The division of BrahmoSamaj into Adi Brahmo Samaj underDevendranath Tagore and Bharatiya BrahmoSamaj under Keshav Ch. Sen soon had its



repercussions at Cuttack. The members of AdiBrahmo Samaj located at Odia bazar used tocongregate at the temple every Wednesday andthose of Utkal Brahmo Samaj (a wing of BharatiyaBrahmo Samaj) every Sunday, when severaldevotional songs composed by M.S. Rao werecaroled. Many leading persons from Bengal likeDevendra Nath Tagore, Kesav Ch. Sen, SivanathSastri, Devi Prasanna Choudhury et. al., used tocome to Cuttack, delivered speeches, practicedits rites and organised religious discourses; whichused to have significant impact at Cuttack.17 TheSamaj provided a useful forum where people fromacross the religious and social status used tocongregate and interact, which included suchnative colonial officials like K.G. Gupta(Commissioner at Cuttack), B. L. Gupta (judge),S.C Sen (judge) and their family members. Thewives of such officials had established a MahilaSamaj at Lalbag, the residence of Commissioner.It subsequently ran for sometime at Kaligali,where Reba Roy, the pioneer of women’sprogress movement in Odisha, had establishedunder its aegis a Woman’s School and a Sundayschool for the Brahmo boys, which ran forsometime before getting closed down. The Samajrendered a yeomen’s service to the cause of neo-synthetic culture of modern Odisha in the fieldsof the spread of education, women’s educationand liberation, publication of news journals,enrichment of literature and fighting for theeradication of social evils. Its impact reverberatedin the sociocultural life of then Odisha.Madhusudan Rao’s Victoria School andPyarimohan Acharya’s Cuttack Academy werethe two pillars of education in Odisha. The notedleader of freedom struggle, Bipin Chandra Pal,was for sometime the headmaster of the Academy,and was Pyarimohan’s disciple. MadhusudanRao’s writings in different fields of Odia literature

were its gems like Barnabodha, SahityaPrasanga, Sahitya Kusuma, etc. His paperNava Sambad enriched the cultural life of Odishaby its publications on politics, literature and socialreforms. Pyarimohan Acharya was the pioneeringhistorian and a leading social reformer of Odishawho founded Cuttack Youngmen’s LiteraryAssociation. As a journalist he edited a weeklypaper, Utkal Putra, which used to expose andcriticise corruption in public places. He was a firebrand speaker both in Odia and Bengali, and couldspeak on anything from Odia literature tocorruption in public life and drug addiction. Peopleused to be spellbound people through his speech.Biswanath Kar was famed for his oratory, andwas a leading literary critic and an essayist; whofounded the famed literary Odia Journal, UtkalSahitya, which became the leading literarymouthpiece in contemporary Odisha.18 Themovement also spread its ideals in the Christianmissionary ways like denouncing idolatry amongHindus and undertaking religious discourses atpublic spaces like hat/bazaars. It adopted suchtechniques deliberately, as it was a socialmovement meant to attack the prejudicial socialpractices not meant to be practiced in private orin temples. Thus, it needed to blow its ideals atpublic spaces. The Christian missionaries also tooksatisfaction at the fact that the Brahmos bydemolishing idolatry prepared ground for thespread of Christianity in Odisha that theyconsidered as the ‘garden of idolatry andsuperstitions.’ It raised apprehensions andoppositions among the orthodox sections ofpeople, who perceived acquiescence betweentwo, although in reality there was antipathybetween the two. The movement, however,declined in due course owing to a combination offactors, the most important being the internalschism and the opposition of conservative forceswithin the Hindu society.19



Like Brahmo movement, the Vedantismof Dayananda Saraswati also rested itself on thewisdom, knowledge and reason by denouncingcasteism, idolatry, obscurantist ritualism and thesuperstitious practices that had crept into Hinduismby giving a call to go back to the Vedas. It soondeveloped a following for itself at Cuttack,particularly among the educated elite. RamkrishnaMission carried such trends to still larger domainsof nationalism and state building by advocating asocialism that sought to address the problems ofthe poor. There were also certain religiousmovements, which unlike those mentioned abovecame from below and outside the city confines,like the Mahima Dharma, which even though hadrural beginning came to have roots at urban centreslike Cuttack during the early part of twentiethcentury. The followers of the sect were of twotypes: the dedicated sannyasis and the grihastaswho lived with their families. They hailed fromdiverse background: rich and poor, upper andlower castes; but the lower castes and classpredominated among them. The founder of thesect was, as believed by its followers, was onemysterious Mahima Swami who had supernaturalpower. It was Bhima Bhoi (the prodigious blindpoet) who fused a protean folk-tribal tradition intopopular sectarian practice through his enthrallingdevotional poetical compositions.20 The order wasfurther consolidated by Viswanath Baba, a muchrevered saint of the order. Despite opposition bythe elements and the progress of scientism thatcharacterized the epoch, the folk-sprung religiousform came to have a significant following event atCuttack city, to which, it is believed, MahimaGosain himself visited two times: once in 1838and once more afterwards in order to preach hisdoctrine. Its simplicity, catholicity, genuineness andnewness appealed the people most. Although itoperated within the Hindu fold yet like the

aforesaid neo-religious movements it sought toset up a true Sanatana Dharma by a mix ofmysticism, humanism and social activism. Itvenerated emptiness and an inseparable purusha(primeval man), and advocated welfare of all. Itemphasized bhakti, prema (love), sacrifice, properkarma and niti niyama (daily actions). Itsfollowers were sweared by truth, submitted tothe direction of a guru, renounced luxury, forsookany medicine, were devoid of desire andattachment, stayed cool in all circumstances andate only during the day. They were advised tolead a chaste life by shunning the company ofkings, brahmins, bhandaries (barbers), majhies(fishermen) and women in order to achieve theultimate principle, called ‘brahma prapti’ in theirparlance. In ideological terms the MahimaDharma not only represented a revolt against therigid, oppressive and offending caste rules andthe ritualism of the prevalent religion but also asharp reaction against the motivated campaign ofthe Christian missionaries. It sought to redeemdowntrodden by vocalizing them and establish agenuine egalitarian social order. Because of someof its fanatical followers and unconventional ways,many conservative people became apprehensivethat the sect was out to destroy traditional religiousbeliefs and the social order based on caste. In19th century, it became quite popular (particularly)in Odisha, as evident in mushrooming growth ofit’s associated institutions. Even at Cuttack, it hadseveral tungis/Ashrams (houses of religiousdiscourse, many of which were built during thepost-independent period) such as atChandinichowk, Alisha bazar, Chauliaganj,Machhuabazar, Khatbinsahi (1937), Kaflabazar,Bidanasi (1925, the oldest), Chahataghat,Nuabazar, Khannagar (1947), Darjisahi,Badambadi and Jobra; with that atChandinichowk being the chief and the holiest gadi



(podium)/ tungi built during the early part of 20th

century, as it was supposed to be visited byMahima Gosain himself and the sect’s chief pontiffViswanath Baba was involved in its rebuilt after itwas burnt by the miscreants. It was also the richestof the tungis in the city owing to hefty donationsit received from its devotees. It was also on theefforts of Viswanath Baba that Mahima Dharmaassumed a significant following at Cuttack amongthe cross sections of society irrespective of caste,creed and status. Those tungies were frequentlyvisited by the monks of Mahima Order and peopleused to throng such places to partake in thereligious gathering that was characterized by thereligious discourses, burning of lamps and thesinging of bhajans (chorous devotional songs) tothe accompaniment of musical instruments likekhanjani and jhanja. With the evening fall theambience of the ‘rur-ban’ Cuttack was filled withthe musical tones emanating from the tungisdotting the city landscape. Magha Purnima wasthe main festival of the followers of the sect thatthey celebrated with much gala. Such tungis havehad played the vital role in the spread and thecontinued popularity of Mahima Dharma, and alsoin maintaining peace and social harmony in thecity and the state of Odisha as people from all theages, gender, levels, ranks, status, educational andprofessional achievements joined its ranks withequality and fellow feeling. Apart from suchpopular side of the Mahima Dharma, it had anintellectual side as well, as it in due coursereceived patronage from the elites and intellectualsof the city, who were meeting frequently anddiscoursing on its tenets, thereby, furthercontributed to its growth and popularity. Theirwriting being published in the printing pressaccelerated the pace of its popularity and it cameto occupy a special place in the society at Cuttackin particular and Odisha in general.21 But owing

to lack of proper publicity it could not be aspopular as other religious reform movements incontemporary India; even though it had potentialto be so.22 All such neo-religious movements,except the Mahima Dharma, remained essentiallyconfined to the urban elites and could not spreadbeyond the urban confines owing to theirdiscourses being in elitist languages like English,Bengali or at best literary Odia. What continuedto exist were their vestigial relics in the form of afew followers, a few places of worship and a fewbook collections on such practices. They wereboth scions and pioneers of cultural renaissanceand transformation in modern Odisha.

To conclude, the colonial Cuttack wasthe point of intense cultural interaction and servedas the principal node of introducing alien colonialculture into contemporary Odishan society. Itbecame a cultural crucible and the majortransformative agent in the region, since newbeliefs and practices frequently emerged from itand diffused outwards. The cultural encounter thatraged there took rich and varied forms envelopingall the aspects of people’s life and experience,including myriad forms and places of worship.Many new vistas of human experience wereexplored in all the aforesaid spheres that hadlasting impact on the posterity. Forms and theplaces of worship at colonial Cuttack reflectedits multicultural population professing differentreligions and belonging to different sects andcastes, which were a composite of both old andnew practices. Its pantheon of gods andgoddesses, and the rituals involving them weredrawn from several sources: tribal, folk,Sanskritic, Saivite, Vaisnavite, Sakti, Jain,Buddhist, Sikh, Christian, Odia, Tamil, Telugu,Bengali, etc. The encounter of eastern and westerncultures that characterized the new age led to a



new thinking in religion that threw up many newreligious practices like Brahmodharma ofBrahma Samaj, Vedantism of Arya Samaj,Vedantic Socialism of Ramkrishna Mission,Mahima Dharma, etc. All of which talked of thevalue of wisdom and the worship of truth/brahma/sunya (void) by shedding all exterior religiousformalities and rituals, and the caste and idolatry.By advocating unity and love for the wholehumanity, they put emphasis on developing humancharacter by renouncing selfishness and cultivatinglove, purity and kindness. They were imbued withthe nationalistic and patriotic spirit, and advocatedpursuit of spirituality by eliminating self-interests.All these reflected the renaissance spirit and anurge on the part of people to create a moreegalitarian social order. Such neo-religiouspractices became particularly fashionable with theeducated. All such neo-religious movements,except the Mahima Dharma, remained essentiallyconfined to the urban elites and could not spreadbeyond the urban confines owing to theirdiscourses being in elitist languages like English,Bengali or at best literary Odia. But they wereboth scions and pioneers of cultural renaissanceand transformation in modern Odisha. In duecourse, it was the overarching nature of the sahi(neighbourhood culture)/bhaichara (fraternalbond across the communities) of Cuttack city thatled the religious celebrations to become acollective one involving people across thecommunities for a large part of the colonial rule.Generally, a spirit of bonhomie and fellow-feelingundergirded their religious experiences as thesyncretic culture of the city became triumphant.

References :

Barker, Keith M., ‘On the problem of the IdeologicalOrigins of the French Revolution’, in D. LaCapra &S.L. Kaplan, eds. Modern European Intellectual

History: Reapprisals and New Perspectives, Ithaca/London, 1982, pp. 197-219.

Das, Basanta, Kataka Nagar Dhabala Tagara,Cuttack, 2006.

Das, J.P., Desha Kala Patra, (Odia), Bhubaneswar, 1997.

Das, Surya Narayan, Unnabinsa Satabdira Odisha(Odia), Cuttack, 1969.

Dhar, Yasobanta Narayan, Kataka Nagar: BaunaBazaar Tepana Gali (Odia), Cuttack, 1999.

Gold, John R. & Gold, Margaret M., ‘Culture and theCity’, History in Focus, Special on The City, (13), 2008,pp. 182-184.

Mohapatra, Ghansyam; ‘Katakare Mahima Dharma’, inBrajamohan Mohanty et. al., (eds.) Nagar O PanchaCuttack, Cuttack, 1992, pp. 430-446.

Mohapatra, Nagendranath, ‘Katakare Brahmo Samaj’,in Brajamohan Mohanty et. al., eds., Nagar O PanchaCuttack, Cuttack, 1992, pp. 467-70.

Mukherji, Prabhat, History of Odia in the 19th Century,Bhubaneswar, 1964.

Pattanaik, Pathani, ‘Katak Nagar Barasha Hazar’,Foreward in Yasobanta Narayan Dhar’s Kataka Nagar:Bauna Bazaar Tepana Gali (Odia), Cuttack, 1999, pp.vii-viii.

Ratha, Gobinda, Cuttack Darshan (Odia), Cuttack,1885.

Suleri, Sara, The Rhetoric of English India, New Delhi,2006.

Utkal Dipika, 1866-33 (First Odia vernacularnewspaper), Published from Cuttack.

Footnotes :

1. Suleri, The Rhetoric of English India. Chatterji,The Colonial Staged: Theatre in ColonialCalcutta.

2. The term culture has been taken here in theanthropological sense of it, meaning the attributesand products of human society in all their pluralityand diversity, and the values and symbolism theyencode. Gold, & Gold, ‘Culture and the City’,pp.182-184.



3. Barker, ‘On the problem of the Ideological Originsof the French Revolution’, p.197.

4. Dhar, Kataka Nagar, p. 2. Ratha, CuttackDarshan, p. 28. Das,Kataka Nagar, p.91.

5. Ref to Baimundi legend. Baimundi, who eked outa living by stone cutting, donated his savings tothe King Marakat Kesari at Cuttack to build astone embankment in order to protect the city fromfoods fury. The king appreciated the concern ofBaimundi and built a stone embankmentaccordingly. There is another legend on itsconstruction that it was built on donation of ill-gotten money by one Siddeswara Raut. Theveracity of both the legends is doubtful. Theembankment once built became the protectingshield of the city that was taken care by all thesubsequent governments, including the British.Common people also contributed their mite byputting their labour and constantly invigilatingon its safety during the floods and cyclones, ashappened during the extremely high floods of 1855.Das, Unnabinsa, p. 64.

6. There are three styles of Odissi kirtans in Odisha:Manoharsahi, Ranihati and Garanahati. Dhar,Kataka Nagar, p. 14. Das, Kataka Nagar, p. 94.

7. Pattanaik, ‘Katak Nagar Barasha Hazar’, pp. vii-viii.

8. There were some 2500 Telugus at colonial Cuttack,according to some estimates, many of whom usedto migrate to Cuttack city with their families insearch of employment, i.e., used to work with theIrrigation Company. Das, Unnabinsa Satabdira,Odisha, p.72. Das, Desha Kala Patra, p. 63.

9. Dhar, Katak Nagar, p. 82. Das, Kataka Nagar, p.84.

10. Utkal Dipika, 01-01-1869 & 04-09-1869. Ratha,Cuttack Darshan, p. 26-27.

11. On the occasion of the visit of Sankaracharya ofSringeri, people at Cuttack irrespective of caste,class and creed performed puja, homa (burningof sacrificial fire), etc. Utkal Dipika, 29-01-1903.

12. Important Satya Pir/Sufi centres at Cuttack, whereboth Hindus and Muslims congregate(d) forworship, were (are) the graves of Bukhari Shah atBarabati Fort, Malang Shah at Buxibazar and BibiAlam at Firingibazar, etc. Satya Pir worshipprobably started during the subedarship ofDewan Alam Chand under the Nazim rule. Das,Kataka Nagar, p. 41, 85.

13. Notable such cemeteries were Sati Chaura,Kaliaboda (shows etymological association withSikhs), Khannagar (shows etymologicalassociation with Muslims), Gora Kabar (of theChristians), etc.

14. Doctor Masud in a Muslim conference held atSyed Seminary at Cuttack in 1933 was stressingthe need for communal harmony at Cuttcak. UtkalDipika, 18-02-1933.

15. Utkal Dipika, 05-06-1869. Mukherji, History ofOrissa, p. 466. Das, Desha Kala Patra, p. 376.Mohapatra, ‘Katakare Brahmo Samaj’, pp. 467-70.

16. The city notables who joined the Brahmomovement were Jagamohan Ray, Jagamohan Lala,Gourisankar Ray, Madhusudan Rao et.al; whocarried it to other parts of Odisha, includingGarjats. One unique trait of the Brahmo followersof the period was that they used to converse andexchange letters in Bengali, including M.S. Das,as that was considered to be language of elite ofthe city dominated by Bengalis. Not only thatmany of the Brahmo followers who were in criticalsectors in government gave preference to Brahmofollowers in recruitment to several jobs. Das,Desha Kala Patra, pp. 282-3, 307, 379, 387.

17. Devi Prasanna Choudhury’s long speech atCuttack on 5th March 1889 on the character ofBrahmodharma had notable influence at Cuttack.Utkal Dipika, 10-03-1889.

18. Another side of coin was that the newspapersbecame carriers of traditional religious andsuperstitious practices by taking up staple storieson the talismanic activities of saintly person, andthe rumors on their mahatmya (divine glory) and



their patron deities like Vishnu, Shiva, et.al.,including their local manifestations. UtkalDipika,19.06.1869 & 29.05.1869.

19. A conservative Hindu association, called BhagabatBhakti Pradayani Sabha, protested strongly at theBrahmo activities of trying to convert thesusceptible youth studying at educationalinstitutions to the Brahmo ideals, which put theHindu society and religion in jeopardy. They tookstrong umbrage to the involvement of governmentofficials and teachers in such matter. It resolvedto bring the attention of colonial government tosuch affairs. The lead in such matter was taken bythe leaders like Ramsankar Ray, Govind Rath,Kapileswar Nandasarma, et. al. Das, Desha KalaPatra, pp. 376-9. Utkal Dipika, 18-12-1869.Mohapatra, ‘Katakare Brahmo Samaj’, p. 470.

20. Bhima Bhoi’s notable devotional compositionswere: Srutichintamani, Bhajan Mala, BrahmaNirupan Gita, Ashok Vihari Gita, ChautisaGrantha Mala, etc. Besides such texts and theoral tradition on that, there was no authentic textthat existed on the sect. Therefore, an effort wasmade by the devotees at Chandinichowk Ashramto compile an authentic history of the sect.Viswanath Baba was given charge of it, whocompiled it with the assistance of others likeAnanta Baba, Pitambar Baba, Keshav Ch. Das et.

al. Mohapatra, ‘Katakare Mahima Dharma’, p. 435,443.

21. The leading figures of Cuttack who wereassociated with the Mahima movement were:Narayan Ray, Laxminarayan Sahu, Bichhanda Ch.Pattnaik, Braj Kishore Das, Ghansyam Das,Sashibhusan Ray, Nabakrushna Choudhury,Lingaraj Mishra, Pranakrushna Parija, Arta BallabhMohanty, Mayadhar Mansingh, Vinod Kanungo,et. al. They used to meet frequently at differentvenues and were discoursing on the tenets andthe social dimension of the Dharma. A SatyaMahima Dharma Samiti was also formed topropagate the principle of Mahima Dharma.Viswanath Baba. Ibid. pp. 443-6.

22. M.S. Das disagreed with the opinion of otherslike G.S. Ray and argued that had such a movementtook place in states like Maharastra, Bengal orPunjab; its founder Mahima Gosain would havebeen as popular as Dayananda Saraswati andRammohan Ray. Das, Desha Kala Patra, p. 306.

Dr. Pramod Kumar Mohanty, Plot No. 102, Surya Nagar,Bhubaneswar-751003, Odisha, E-mail :[email protected].



The history of Odisha in 8th century AD markedthe rise of a powerful dynasty known asBhaumakaras. The Bhaumas ruled for nearly 2centuries over Odisha. The rulers eastablished avast kingdom known as Toshali. The Kingdomwas extended from Kongodamandala in the southto Dandabhuktimandala in the north. The entireOdisha including southwestern part of Midnaporedistrict of West Bengal was under their sway. Fromthe available copper plate grants of their familywe came to know that six numbers of femalemembers of this family ruled over Odisha.

The epigraphic records of theBhaumakaras provide us with interesting piecesof information about their religious leanings. Theinscription reveal that the rulers were votaries ofdifferent religious sects, viz, Buddhism,Vaishnavism, Saivism and Saktism. Under thepatronage of the Bhauma monarch a large numberof institution connected with different religionsflourished in Odisha. The cardinal feature of thereligious history of Bhaumakaras, that the memberof same royal family were followers of differentreligious cults.

The rise of Bhaumakaras was a notableepoch in the history of Mahayana Buddhism inOdisha. Their rule also witnessed the evolution

of Buddhism from Mahayana to Vajrayana. TheBhauma who were mostly Buddhist in faith buteclectic to other Brahminical religions andintroduced Tantrism and amalgamated the flowwith Saktism, Saivism and Buddhism resultingthe emergence of Tantric goddess and monumentswith Tantric method of rituals and worship.

From the Bhauma copper plate grants weassume that Saktism touch the pinnacle of gloryduring this period. We have evidences that thecapital Viraja (Jajpur) was a centre of Saktiworship during this time. Viraja is one of thetraditional Panchakshetra in Odisha dedicatedto Brahminical Panchadevata. The theoreticalinterpretation of the Sakti Cult inculcated in theVedas, Upanishadas, Purana etc. foundexpression of mother goddess.

The peculiar feature of this period wasthe intimate relation between Siva and Sakti whichreveals from the copper plate charter. The Baudgrant of Tribhuvana mahadevi state that the queengranted the village Kottapura at the request ofSasilekha the queen of MahamandaladhipatiMangalakalasa, in favour of the templeNannesvara constructed by her. It is describedthat one share of the gift village said to have beengranted for perpetual offering of ablution, sandal

Saktism during Bhaumakaras Period(An Epigraphical Study)

Bharati Pal



paste, bali and charu to the deity Uma-Mahesvara installed in the said tample. Thisproves the intimate relation between Siva andSakti during the period under discussion.

The Dhenkanal grant ofTribhuvanamahadevi alias Pruthivimahadevispeaks that she ascended the throne like goddessKatyayani whose lotus like feet were kissed bythe heads of the feudatory chiefs bowed downwith devoted loyalty.

The goddess Katyayani, we havepresumed that the deity is no other than goddessViraja in aspects of Sakti. According to BhaktiBhagavata the Bhojas or the Bhaumas weredevoted to Viraja and honored the Brahamanaswho were Sakti Tantrikas. The Kalika Puranamentioned that lord Jagannatha and goddessKatayani were the presiding deities of Odra. Thegoddess Viraja became a great celebrity deitylong before lord Jagannatha of Puri and lordLingaraja of Bhubaneswar came intoprominence.

The Talteli plate of Dharmamahadevidescribes that she was the female swan in theassembly of kings owing allegiance to her and asthe goddess Lakshmi in the heavenly garden calledNandana.

A number of Matruka image belongingto 8th-9th century AD have been discovered atJajpur and its environs. Of the Matrukas,Chamunda appears to have been in special favourof Bhauma age. One such image was installed in

a temple of Jajpur by the Bhauma queenVatsadevi. An inscribed Chamunda image hastentatively assigned to 8th -9th century AD ofBhauma rule. The inscription records that thework of installation of the image of Chamunda isdone by the queen Vatsa Devi. The inscriptionwritten as “Siddham Rajni, VatsadevayahKrittih”.

So the Bhauma rulers from the beginningof their rule, professed a sort of mixed faith inwhich Buddhism and Brahmanical faith werestrongly amalgamated. It was due to their strongpatronization that the Buddhist as well asBrahmanical institution grew side by side duringtheir supremacy. There was an attempt in theprocess of transformation, assimilation andintegration of different religions during the periodunder discussion.

References:

1. B.Das - The Bhaumakaras and Their Times, P-155

2. H. Das - The Cultural Heritage of Jajpur, P-164

3. Epigraphica Indica Vol-XXIX, P-201

4. S.Tripathy, Inscriptions of Bhaumakaras, P-167

5. Ibid, P-216

6. Epi, Indica, Vol-XXVII-P- l84

Bharati Pal, Curator (Epigraphy), Odisha State Museum,Bhubaneswar.



Abstract

It is persistently presumed that there areabout 33 crores of Gods and Goddesses inHinduism. These Gods and Goddesses arebroadly divided into three. They are Vaishnava,Saiva and Shakta. Among them Goddess Durga,belongs to the Shakta category. The Shakta cultgot immense popularity during the ancient agecommencing from the 6th Century B.C till the endof the 6th century A.D.

So far as Odisha is concerned, worshipof Goddess Durga is observed in all the undivided13 districts. Here is given an account in detail aboutthe worship of Goddess Durga in Odisha.

1. Durga Puja in the undivided Balasore District

Durga Puja is one of the most popularfestivals of the district. It is celebrated in the brightfortnight in the month of Aswin (September-October). This colourful festival begins fromSaptami (7th day) and ends on Dasami (10th

days).

Clay Image of Goddess Durga isworshipped at many places in the district with greatpomp and splendor of which mention may bemade of the celebrations held at Baleswar,Bhadrak, Nilagiri, Soro, Jaleswar and

Chandabali. The 10th day of the festival is calledDussehra. On this day the images are taken outin procession for immersion in tanks or rivers. Insome other places the images are immersed onthe 11th day. Durga Puja is also celebrated at manySakta Shrines in the district.

2. Durga Puja in the undivided Bolangir District

The village of Jarasingha situated 5 milesfrom Tusra and two miles from Deogan is famousfor the Patkhanda Jatra which takes place in themonth of Aswina from 8th to 10th day of the brightfortnight. A man locally called ‘Barua’ becomespossessed by the spirit of Goddess “Patkhanda”and under that condition he is believed to bestowmiraculous boons on devotees. People sufferingfrom mental diseases are brought here forblessings and barren women also come here inlarge number in the hope of getting children bythe blessing of Goddess Patkhanda.

3. Durga Puja in the undivided Boudh, Kandhamal District

The images of Goddess Durga areworshipped in a few places in the district of whichcelebrations held at Boudh deserve specialmention. Durga Puja also celebrated at severalSakta shrines in the district of which the worship

Durga Puja in the ProminentSakti Pithas of Odisha

Jyoti Naik



of Goddess Bararaul at Bataskumpa inKhajuripada police station is important. Thedevotees offer rice, milk and sweetmeat to theGoddess. According to custom the tribal peopleof the district offer bhetis (presentations) to theirhill-chiefs and Muth-heads as a token of respectduring Dussehra.

Dussehra or Dasahara has a specialsignificance to the warrior community. Theyworship their old weapons of war and exhibitmartial art on the occasion. Their heroic forebearsused to start on fresh military Expeditions duringthis season of the year.

4. Durga Puja festival in the undivided Cuttack District

Sarbajanina Durga Puja is celebratedduring the bright fortnight in the month of Aswina(September-October). Generally it continues forfive days from Sasthi to Dasami. The celebrationreaches the peak on Dasami which is calledVijaya Dasami. Clay idols of Goddess Durga andGod (Lord) Mahadev are made and worshippedin many places in the district. Celebrations heldat Cuttack city deserve special mention. Over 100Durga and 60 Mahadev Medhas are there inCuttack city. Durga Puja here is celebrated withgreat pomp and grandeur, lakhs of people visitthe Medha’s to have a darshan of the deities andenjoy the operas and melody nights held in frontof the important Medhas in central places duringthese days. A big fair is held on the bank of theriver on the day at Puri Ghat. This year the Durgapuja of Cuttack will be celebrated with COVID-19 guidelines.

Durga Puja is also celebrated with pompand ceremony at several Shakti Pithas in thedistrict of which Sarala at Jhankada (Kanakpur),Cuttack Chandi at Cuttack, Gada Chandi at

Barabati Fort, Charchika at Banki, MahuliThakurani at Parsurampur in Athagarh, PrabalaThakurani at Jeypure in Narasinghapur, RamaChandi Thakurani at Rangadipada in Badamba,Maa Bhatarika at Badamba and Biraja Thakuraniat Jajpur are important.

5. Durga Puja in the undivided Ganjam District.

Dasahara is celebrated throughout thedistrict during the bright fortnight in the month ofAswina (September-October). Generally DurgaPuja continues for four days from Saptami uptoDasami. The celebrations reach climax on Dasamiwhich is called Vijaya Dasami. Clay idols ofGoddess Durga are made and worshipped inmany places in the district of which celebrationsheld at Brahmapur, Parlakhemundi, Hinjili andRambha deserve special mention. Worshippingof the clay idol of Durga during Dasahara wasfirst introduced by the Bengalee settlers inBrahmapur town of the district in the early part offorties of the 20th century.



Durga Puja is also celebrated at severalShakti Pithas in the district of which GoddessNarayani near Khallikote, Ramachandi of Chikiti,Mahisamardini of Rambha, Tara Tarini nearPurusottampur, Thakurani Pitha of Purunapatnanear Paralakhemundi, Byaghra Devi of Kuladaand Bhairabi Pitha of Mantridi near Brahmapurare important.

6. Durga Puja in the undivided Kalahandi District

Goddess Manikeswari is the prominentdeity of Kalahandi district. The temple of theGoddess is situated in the premises of the Ex-Maharaja’s palace at Bhawanipatna. The Ex-Rulers of Kalahandi used to observe the SaradiyaPuja of the Goddess known as Chhatra Yatra.The festival reaches its peak on the Mahastamiday.

Besides Bhawanipatna, Dasahara alsoforms an important festival at Khariar Road,Khariar, Sinapali, Komna, Charabeda and Saliaunder Jonk police station, Jayapatna and Beherain Koksara police station and Dharamgarh.

The Khandabasa festival is observedduring Dasahara in the temple of GoddessLankeswari at Junagarh, the old capital ofKalahandi Ex.-State. The ruler of Kalahandi usedto come to Junagarh on the Mahastami day toperform the Puja. The ruler observes fasting onthe day and places a sword before the Goddesson an auspicious moment fixed by the astrologer.There is a widespread belief among the localpeople that if the sword placed by the ruler beforethe Goddess remains straight, villagers will notface any natural calamities like drought, epidemicsetc. If the sword tilts, right or left then it indicatesbad omen for the State.

The festival is observed for a day and afair is held at the place on the occasion. Thecongregation actually lasts for about three days.

Folk performances like Ghumura danceand Ramalila are usually organized at night-forthe entertainment of the people.

7. Durga Puja in the undivided Keonjhar District

People worship their vocationalimplements on these days. Images of GoddessDurga are worshipped in many places of thedistrict of which the celebrations held at Keonjhar,Jhumpura, Joda, Barbil, Champua and Anandapurattract more people. Durga Puja is alsocelebrated at the Sakta Shrines at Siddhamatanear Keonjhar and Tarini at Ghatagaon.

8. Durga Puja in the undivided Koraput District

The greatest festival of the district isDasahara observed at Jeypore. This festival is heldin honour of Kanaka Durga (Golden Durga)whose temple is situated within the palace. Thisfestival lasts for sixteen days and a series ofceremonies are held throughout the period.

9. Durga Puja festival in the undivided Mayurbhanj District

Dasahara is the festival in which theHindus, the Schedule Tribe and the ScheduleCaste people are equally interested. It is observedwith great pomp and splendor at Baripada, Betnatiand Kaptipada. It begins on the eighth day of thebright fortnight of Aswin and continues for threedays.

10. Durga Puja festival in the undivided Puri District

The Durga Puja continues for four daysfrom Saptami up to Dasami. People also worshiptheir vocational implements on these days andstop work in the workshop. Clay images of



Goddess Durga are worshipped at many placesin the district of which mention may be made ofthe celebrations held at Puri, Bhubaneswar, Jatni,Khurda and Nayagarh. At Puri this festival is calledgosani jata. The Gosani or Durga imagesconstructed at Puri are of colossal size withdistinctive iconographic features.

Durga Puja is also ceremoniouslyobserved with due ceremony at several Saktashrines in the district of which the worship ofMangala at Kakatpur, Bhagabati at Banpur andBimala at Puri deserves special mention.

11. Durga Puja festival in the undivided Sundargarh District

The district with its alluring legend andhistory contains many temples and shrines wherepeople of different faiths congregate on manyreligious and festive occasions.

Vedavyasa, a beauty sport nearRourkela, located at the confluence of the riversSankha and Koel, is a famous place of pilgrimagefor the Hindus. Its sanctity is due to the locationof the temple of Lord Siva. According to localtradition sage Vyasa, the celebrated author of “TheMahabharata” is said to have been born here.

The fairs and melas are common in thedistrict and are held throughout the year. Someof these fairs have a religious or economic origin.On such festive occasions the people get scopeto rejoice and also avail the opportunity ofpurchasing many articles from outside traders whocome with their merchandise from distant places.Tribal dance, chhau dance, opera and magicshows, etc., are some of the usual features of thesemelas.

Most of the tribal festivals synchronisewith their agricultural operations. They have also

adopted many Hindu festivals due to years ofclose cultural contact with their Hindu neighbours.Rourkela in the district is the main place for DurgaMedhas.

12. Durga Puja festival in the undivided Dhenkanal District

The vital places of Durga Puja in theDistrict are Dhenkanal, Angul, Kaniha, Talcher,Chhendipada, Kamakshanagar, Kapilas,Athamallik etc.

13. Durga Puja in the undivided Sambalpur District

The undivided Sambalpur district is theheart of cultural heritage of Western Odisha. TheDurga Puja and Dasahara is celebrated in theDevi Pithas of Samaleswari and Ghanteswari.

It commences on the 1st day of the brightfortnight of the month of Aswin (September-October) and ends on the 10th day of the brightfortnight of the month of Aswin. Hence DurgaPuja continues for 10 days in all the Devi Pithasof the district. It is the 2nd grand celebration in thedistrict followed by “Nuakhai”.

In Sambalpur Goddess Durga isconsidered as the “Samaleswari Durga”. She isoriginally the Goddess of the “Aborigin Sauras”(Adivasi Saura Community). Initially the aboriginpeople were appointed in the service of theGoddess. Goddess Samalai (Samaleswari) isconsidered as the Goddess of antiquity orAdimapantee Devee.

Jyoti Naik, PWD Road, Brahman Sahi, Boudh, [email protected].



The Wildlife Week is celebrated all over thecountry every year between 2nd October and 8thOctober in order to protect fauna means theanimal life. It was first started in the year 1952with the great vision of saving the life of the Indiananimals by taking some critical steps. It involvesthe planning to save animal extinction of anyspecies of India.

Wildlife plays an important role inbalancing the environment. Wild life providesstability to different natural processes of nature.The importance of wildlife can be categorized asecological importance, economic importance,investigatory importance, conservation ofbiological diversities etc. Many nations haveestablished their tourism sectoraround their natural wildlife. SouthAfrica has, for example, manyopportunities for tourists to see thecountry’s wildlife inits national parks, such asthe Kruger Park. In South India,the Periar WildlifeSanctuary, Bandipur NationalPark and Mudumalai WildlifeSanctuary are situated around andin forests. India is home to manynational parks and wildlife

sanctuaries showing the diversity of its wildlife,much of its unique fauna, and excels in the range.There are 89 national parks, 13 bio reserves andmore than 400 wildlife sanctuaries across Indiawhich are the best places to go to see Bengaltigers, Asiatic lions, Indian elephants, Indianrhinoceroses, birds, and other wildlife whichreflect the importance that the country places onnature and wildlife conservation.

India is home to a large number andvariety of animals. It is a hot-spot for biodiversitywith its various ecosystems ranging from theHimalayas in the north to the evergreen rain-forestof the south, the desert sands of the west to themarshy mangroves of the east. India, lying within

National Wildlife Week

Dr. Manas Ranjan Senapati



the Indomalaya ecozone, is home to about 7.6%of all mammalian, 14.7% of all amphibians, 6%of avian (bird), 6.2% of reptilian, and 6.0%of flowering plant species. The exploitation ofland and forest resources by humans along withcapturing and trapping for food and sport has ledto the extinction of many species in India in recenttimes. These species include mammals such asthe Asiatic cheetah, wild zebu, Indian Javanrhinoceros, and Northern Sumatran rhinoceros.Some species of birds have gone extinct in recenttimes. The Indian government has establishedeighteen biosphere reserves of India which protectlarger areas of natural habitat and often includeone or more national parks and/or preserves,along buffer zones that are open to someeconomic uses. Protection is granted not only tothe flora and fauna of the protected region, butalso to the human communities who inhabit theseregions, and their ways of life. Need of the houris sustainable wildlife management. Sustainablewildlife management refers to the soundmanagement of wildlife species to sustain theirpopulations and habitat over time, considering thesocio-economic needs of human populations.

The planet earth has already seen five bigextinctions; the sixth may be happening nowbecause of human activities. The UN had alreadywarned that one million species might disappearwithin the next few decades. The Living PlanetReport has noted that the earth’s wildlifepopulation has declined by an average of 68%among monitored vertebrate species from 1970to 2016. Since March, the extinction of wildanimals may well have been amplified by theCorona virus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, theimpact of which has not only been felt by humansbut by mammals and reptiles in the wild. Ecologyand economy of the world are imbalanced due tovirus attack. More attention is needed to protectthe wildlife during this pandemic period.

Dr. Manas Ranjan Senapati, Dean Science, Biju PatnaikUniversity of Technology & Professor of Chemistry,Trident Academy of Technology, Bhubaneswar-751019,E-mail : [email protected].



Science is nothing but investigation of Truth.Indians in past were expert scientists who haveinvented the proper communication between theself and the Supreme. They invented differenttypes of idols made of stone, gold, brass andbronze etc metals to worship. Because idolworship is the main tradition of Indian devotees.Worship of Hindus are divided into twocategories: Vedic and Tantric. Mantras used inworship are divided into these two categories.Veda is based on theory, which mantras are Vedicmantras and Tantric mantras are applied science(fully practical).

Tantric tradition deals with two objectsMaya and Shakti. Maya is a thought of evils:Artha Bhairaba, Krodha Bhairaba, UnmataBhairaba, Kapali Bhairaba and Bhisana Bhairaba.Shakti: Kali, Tara, Shodashi, Bhubaneswari,Bhairabi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumabati, Bagala,Matangi and Kamala. These ten Shaktis are called

as Dasha Mahavidya or Ten wisdom goddesses.The popular myth behind the genesis of DashaMahavidyas are found in the Devi BhagabataPurana and Chamunda Tantra as :

“Kali Tara Mahavidya Shodashi Bhubaneswari,Bhairabi Chhinnamasta cha Vidya Dhumavati tatha.

Bagala Siddhavidya cha Matangi Kamalatmika,

eta Dasha Mahavidya Siddhavidya Prakirtita.”

That means Kali, Tara, Shodashi,Bhubaneswari, Bhairabi, Chhinnamasta,Dhumavati, Bagala, Matangi and Kamala areDasha Mahavidyas or ten Divine mothers. Tantrais linked with Bhairabas (the names of Shiva) andBhairabis (Names of Divine Mother). Tantra is ascience by which one’s knowledge expands orleads to liberation. So it is mostly described inTantra Tatwa. The worship of Dasa Mahavidyais prevalent among the tantrics and especially theShaktas worship 9 Mahavidyas along with theirBhairabas except Dhumabati (as a widow).

Scientific View of Indian Tantric Culture

Dr. Ramakanta Kar



“Tanoti bipulanar Than Tatwa,mantra Samanwitan,

Tranam sa kurute yasmatTantramityabhidhiyate.”

Natural power or self power is beingcontrolled by the Supreme power orParamatmashakti or Durga Shakti and Generalenergy is created from natural power andcontrolled by natural and the Supreme Power.Natural power is called also as PanchamahabhutaShakti.

Mainly inspite of these both Shakti,General energy works and creates variousenergies. Just as Magnetic Energy, ElectricEnergy, Sound Energy, Water Energy etc. DurgaShati is called as Paramabrahma Swarupini. Itcreates all varieties of Shaktis and controls them.

So once in a year we worship to the SupremePower or Durga Shakti through the idol worship.When Atma Shakti goes to Brahma Space, hemeets Paramatma, then the man gets salvation. It

is described in Hatha Yoga Pradipika—

“Jena margena gantabyam brahmasthanamNiramayam, Mukhenaschhadya tatdwaramprasupta parameswari”.

Atma Shakti (Human Soul) wants to getsalvation, then he has to do some Shakti Sadhanaor idol worship or meditation to reach theParameswari. He has to face so many difficulties.That is called sadhana. At that time he has to wakeup the Kundalini Shakti (Serpentine Power) insleeping position at the gate of Brahma Sthanam.Kundalini Shakti on account of its spiral likeenergy working in the body of the Human being,develops the power gradually. It is the divinecosmic energy in bodies. Shakti is unseen, but tofeel the presence of Shakti a path is needed. Justas electric energy is unseen, but it goes when a

media or electric wire is connected by the effortof human being. Like this if a Sadhaka wants tocommunicate his soul with the Supreme, a mediaor idol worship (Sadhana) is necessary for him,



To the broken tusk and round belly,Hearing all our prayers and misery.

With a laddoo in hand, and a mouse on knees,There is absolutely nothing that you cant fix.

The gentleness in your eyes andhigh of your ears,Having a glimpse of your facebrings success in all spheres.

How immensely divine and beautiful you look,Beyond any write ups, poetries and books.

You are my savior,my faith, my conscience.

The calm to my mind of ocean andeverything divine.

I thank you for being constantly there,No wishes no demands, just as rare.

Your presence is enough, I feel it so.Till I am alive and many years to go !My support, Shree Ganesha.

Elora Pradhan, C/o Kanchi Narayan Mohanty 'Ashram'',Srivihar Colony, Tulasipur,Cuttack-753008, E-mail :[email protected].

To My Ganesha

Elora Pradhan

and surely he can be able to feel the existence ofthe supreme power in the way to get salvation.Sadhana means to attain the goal of life. AtmaShakti is made by physical, mental and organizingpower. When Atam Shakti raises, the body, mind,intellect and heart becomes developed. So theAtma Shakti is life. Without the existence of AtmaShakti, the heart of human being cannot feel the

self and he cannot be able to build his career.This is the proper time to save the nature as wellas to worship Durga Shakti.

Dr. Ramakanta Kar, Yoga Pallava, Yoga Niketana, GudiaSahi, Puri-1.



Myths, Facts and Controversies Associatedwith the Sun Temple of Konark

Sudhansu Sekhar Rath

Analysing different texts appearing in journals,magazines, newspapers, books and epics,sculptural objects, visual references like oldand new pictures, paintings, sketches, and theopinion of local residents of Konark and thenapplying personal judgement an effort hasbeen made here through this article to clearthe controversies, bust the myths, bring outthe facts associated with the Sun Temple ofKonark and also to differently define the tworuined temples located at the south-westcorner of its compound.

When an object, alive or dead, an eventor something comes under the limelight and itsperception to the common people goes beyondtheir intellect then usually it gets shrouded withmany myths created by the people around.Gradually these myths cover up the facts tightlyfrom all sides and then, after some time, thecommon man starts believing in those myths. Thecase with the world famous Sun Temple ofKonark is not any different. Even after 743 yearsof its construction by the legendary King LangulaNarasingha Deva many controversies and mythsabout it are still doing rounds in different media.The controversies and myths are mostly about(A) the existence of the River Chandrabhaga andits location, (B) who built the present Sun Temple

and when, (C) whether the Sun God was everworshipped in the temple or the temple collapsedbefore its completion, (D) the various legendsassociated with it, (E) the supposed Buddhistorigin of the temple and (F) identification of thetwo now-ruined temples at the south-west cornerof the complex.

(A) The Sun Temple at Konark was builtclose to the sea at the mouth of the RiverChandrabhaga after filling its gorge with heavyand huge stone blocks. However, some scholarssay that, at Konark the River Chandrabhaga didnot exist at all and if it ever did, there was noneed for the King to so painstakingly fill it up tobuild the temple when so much vacant land wasavailable nearby and at various other importanttowns in his kingdom. The controversy arises asthe River Chandrabhaga has dried up completelyand vanished since long having no trace of it, noteven of its dried up bed. Today it is, people say,represented only by a small pond near theseacoast. The sea has also receded almost threekilometres from its original location at the templesite. Now let us analyse certain important opinionsof scholars expressed at different times.

A1. Bishan Swarup, the engineer in-chargeof restoration work of Konark Temple carriedout by the British-India government says that, the



River Chandrabhaga flowing in Maitreya Vana(Maitreya Forest), where Shamba, the cursed sonof Lord Krishna observed a penance praying theSun God, was not located in Konark; rather, itwas the River Chandrabhaga (Chenab) in thePunjab. He thinks so as Dwaraka, the home ofKrishna is closer to Chenab, and since Konark issituated on the sea beach it would not have beenpossible for a huge and deep forest like MaitreyaVana to have grown at such a sandy location.1

A2. Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra, citing theinstances described in many epics of differentages, says that the episode of Shamba happenedat the bank of the River Chandrabhaga located inMaitreya Vana which was, in fact, the ancientname of Konark.2

A3. Karuna Sagar Behera mentions that,though Shamba Purana, an important text on Sunworship, does not specifically mention Konark;it tells the traditional story of Shamba and abouterection of the first Sun temple at Mitravana onthe bank of Chandrabhaga (Chenab) in the Punjab.However, in the interpolated chapters 42-43, itmentions that Tapovana is located on the shoreof the salt ocean.3

Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra says BishanSwarup is as wrong as can be. In the ancient agedistance was not a criterion for the saints to choosea place for observing penance; they ratherdepended on the sanctity and the suitability of theplace for their purpose.4 Again, Brahma Puranaand other epics mention that Maitreya Vana wasclose to the sea. There is no seacoast in Punjab.5

Referring to Bishan Swarup’s opinion regardingimpossibility of a dense forest growing in a sandylocation, even today we find a moderate forestnamed Balukhanda, a reserved forest as declaredby the government, present in the area extendingfrom Konark to Puri running along the beach.

Near Konark at the present village of Golara onceexisted a dense forest of the same name with afort named Golara Garh inside, where, in themedieval period, the soldiers were living in hidingand taking commando training. Pandit Mishrastates, in fact, the deep forest of Maitreya Vana,over a period of 4000 years, starting from thedays of Shamba, gradually transformed itself tothe contemporary township of Konark.6

Shamba Upakhyana states since themythological period of Shamba, Sun worship iscontinuing at Maitreya Vana on the bank of RiverChandrabhaga. This fact has been repeatedlystated, though under different names for the place,in Brahma Purana, Skandha Purana, PrachiMahatmya, Bhabishya Purana, Shamba Purana,Kapila Samhita, Madala Panji, SaralaMahabharata and in Baya Chakada, a 73-pagepalm leaf document dealing with constructionactivity of the present Sun Temple in detail andbelieved to be of its contemporary period. It isnot possible for all these epics and documentsbelonging to many different periods totally gowrong. Hence, we may safely assume that a rivernamed Chandrabhaga was once flowing inKonark, i.e. the Maitreya Vana of themythological period. Konark has also beenidentified as a place in Odra country by variousscholars like the Arab geographers Abul Faraj(9th century) and Gardizi (11th century), Albiruni(11th century), Mitaksar (1080-1199 A.D.) andby P.V. Kane, the famous Indologist.7 Manylegends point towards presence of large waterbodies near the temple, like the legend aboutDharmapada who jumped from the top of thetemple into the sea to save the lives of 1200craftsmen, about Goddess Ramachandi instructingSibei Santara to fill up the gorge starting from thebank of the river, about the interaction ofKalapahada with Goddess Ramachandi and finally



the legend about the magnet placed atop thetemple drawing towards it the ships sailing nearby.The visual evidences like the 1837 AD paintingof James Fergusson,8 a1890 AD photographtaken by William Henry Cornish that is displayedin the British Gallery and a very old sketch drawnon nine palm leaves preserved in Bharat KalaBhawan of Banaras Hindu University that showwater body in the background of the temple.9

Most importantly, apart from being described inepics, legends, literature, pictures and sketches,the existence of the River Chandrabhaga atKonark along with other water channels have alsobeen recently established by applying scientificprocedures like, remote sensing, satellite imagery,ground penetrating RADAR, GIS, etc. Theresearch conducted by William Mahanty with histeam from IIT, Kharagpur establishes thepresence of the River Chandrabhaga, along withother water bodies near the Sun Temple ofKonark.10 More than a hundred years ago, in theyear 1919, Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra stated thesame fact, that River Chandrabhaga, was flowingby the side of Konark Temple as a very large andturbulent river carrying a lot of water from theRiver Prachi through the River Kadua, andKushabhadra (Liyakhia) and other tributaries tofinally meet the sea. He also said that the last partof the River Kadua was known as Chandrabhagaand people used to call it Kadua Jhara meaningthe stream of Kadua.11

Having proved the existence of the RiverChandrabhaga some scholars disapprove the factthat the temple was built inside the river, on itsgorge filled with stone blocks. Why was itnecessary for Langula Narasingha Deva to sopainstakingly fill up the gorge of such a large andturbulent river to build the temple against choosingany other location elsewhere or the vacant spotsavailable nearby ? To answer this question one

has to study the location a bit. The temple builtby Narasingha Deva was not the first Sun Templebuilt at the site. In fact, he built a new temple justto replace the existing old dilapidated Sun Templeonce built by Purandara Keshari at the samelocation.12 Here we are not concerned about ifhe is Puranjaya or Purandara; we are onlyinterested in the fact that a previous Sun Templedid exist there. Since ages, the place was alreadyestablished as a sacred zone for Sun worship.Nobody knows which generation or version, 2nd,3rd, 4th or 5th and so on, the present templebelongs to. As stated in the epics, after being curedof his cursed disease Shamba built a temple onthe bank of River the Chandrabhaga insideMaitreya Vana and installed the image of Sun Godthere.13 From that day it became a primedestination for the Sun worshippers. If we believein this mythological story then it would beconsidered as the first Sun Temple at this location.After this event, knowing nothing about it, wecome to the historical period of PurandaraKeshari building a Sun Temple at the same spotin 9th century.14 However, since Shamba’s templewould not have survived for so long, till the daysof Purandara, it is possible that with his newconstruction he also replaced an older SunTemple built much later than that of Shamba.Hence, the present Sun Temple can be assumedat least as the fourth Sun Temple built at the site,Purandara’s being the third, though it may be of amuch later version. Again, either at the time ofPurandara Keshari in 9th century or in 13th centurywhen Langula Narasingha Deva started buildingthe temple, Konark was not an isolated ordeserted place inside the forest as it was at thetime of Shamba. Over the years Maitreya Vanahad already evolved to a bubbling township ofKonark, taking the form of a prime religiousdestination, a famous maritime port, a residential



township and a trading centre. According to theChinese visiting scholar Hiuen Tsang, even in 7th

century AD the place had many toweringstructures. Wise and rich people of all faiths likethe Hindus, the Buddhists and people of otherreligions and sects were living together inharmony.15 The 2nd century AD Greek geographerPtolemy refers to Konark as Kannagar, a famousmaritime port. In some Indian texts it has beenmentioned as Kainapara, a significant trading portexisting since the ancient time. Man MohanGanguly says, “according to Prachi Mahatmyathe banks of River Prachi had flourishing townsand villages having massive temples.”16 There wasa shipbuilding centre at Khalakathha and a majortrading centre at Junei known as Daha-Upar.17

The above facts suggest, it wasreasonable for Narasingha Deva not to move outof a prosperous and already established religioussite for Sun worship for building the gigantic andthe most beautiful Sun Temple of Odisha inparticular and of Bharatvarsh in general.

King Narasingha Deva had a grand planto build a gigantic and the most beautiful templefor the Sun God and convert it to a prime religiousdestination in Bharatvarsha. As planned it was builtwith huge blocks of various types of stone. Forexample, the stone blocks were so huge and heavythat after collapse of the temple, even in the 20th

century it was not possible for the BritishAdministration to move the dislocated NabagrahaBlock even after slicing it to one third of itsthickness, up to the seacoast to carry it further tothe Indian Museum in Calcutta (now Kolkata)by ship. Now, think of the Amalaka Shila and theGaja-Singha which weigh 200 and 45 tons,placed at heights of 200 feet and 170 feetrespectively.18 How did they carry it to the templein 13th century and then raised them to such

heights to place atop the temple walls? None ofthe types of stone like, Chlorite, Laterite andKhondalite used in construction19 were availablenearby and had to be brought in from far offplaces. At the time to carry heavy and largeobjects waterway was the best option and theOdia sailors at the time were the masters of thesea and the rivers. In Utkal (ancient Odisha, alsoknown as Kalinga) huge size ships and boatsknown as Hati Boita were available even totransport elephants along with a large number ofpassengers to distant lands.20 Fa-Hien (399 – 411AD) mentions that he travelled from Tamraliptadown to Ceylon, then to Java and finally up toChina in a merchant ship of Kalinga. The easternsea was then named as Kalinga Sagar becauseof the dominance of Kalinga ships. Later it wasnamed by the British as the Bay of Bengal afterthey established their centre in Bengal.21 Hence,for easier transportation of heavy stone blocks,sculptural materials, equipment and iron beamsto the temple site they were being made by theriverside or at the seacoast. Bullock carts,elephants and manpower were being used onlyto transport over short distances and also to movesmaller blocks. Another water channel was alsorunning as a tributary to Chandrabhaga, knownby the locals as Pathara Buha Nala (stone carryingchannel) starting from Tintiar near Bedpur toJunei.22 The craftsmen lived along the bank of thisPathara Buha Nala for the entire period ofconstruction of the temple and worked right thereto carve the stone blocks and send the finishedsculpture by rafts or boats right up to the templesite through this channel. The fact is supportedby presence of the channel in small patches andmany unfinished carved stone blocks found lyingin its bed even now.23 Sibei Santara was living atthe upper end of Pathara Buha Nala at BayalishBati in Erbong, Gop, near the temple of



Gangeshwari.24 The gorge of Chandrabhaga wasfilled-up with stone blocks can also be physicallyproved by drilling one hole at a safe distance fromthe temple inside the compound and another awayfrom the compound at the east side and thencomparing the soil samples collected in both casesfrom different similar depths, say from 100 to 200feet.25 Since the two now-ruined temples at south-west corner of the compound pre-existed thepresent Sun Temple, the filling of the gorge musthave been started from the west progressingtowards the east up to a certain point leaving aportion of the River Chandrabhaga still flowinginto the sea.26

Hence, it is inferred that the Sun Templewas built in Konark near the old dilapidated SunTemple after filling up the gorge of a large andturbulent river named Chandrabhaga.

B. The next major controversy is about whobuilt the present temple and when. Though thereare many evidences available to prove that thepresent Sun Temple at Konark was built in 13th

century AD by Ganga King Langula NarasinghaDeva many scholars at different times in the pasthave stated otherwise and do so even today.

B1. According to Madala Panji the temple ofKonark was built in the year 1278 AD by LangulaNarasingha Deva.

B2. Baya Chakada, a 73-leaf documentwritten in old Odia Karani Script on palm leaves,carrying the details of the 12-year longconstruction period of the temple of Konark andsupposed to be of the contemporary period,states that the temple was started in 1246 andcompleted in 1258 AD.

B3. Abul Fazl, the medieval historian inEmperor Akbar’s Court, who visited Odisha inthe year 1580 AD states in Ain-i-Akbari that the

temple at Konark was built by Narasingha Deva730 years before his visit to Odisha,27 i.e. in theyear 850 AD.

B4. Andrew Stirling, the Persian Secretaryto British - India Government visited Konark in1820 AD. He mentions that Konark was built in1241 AD by Langula Narasingha Deva. He says,“The present edifice, it is well known, was builtby Raja Langora Narsinh Deo, A D. 1241, underthe superintendence of his minister ShibaiSantra.”28

B5. James Fergusson, a famousarchaeologist visited Konark in 1837. Believingin Abul Fazl’s statement, “Konark temple wasbuilt in 9th century,” he agrees with Abul Fazl.29

B6. Rajendra Lal Mitra, a famous historianand archaeologist visited Konark in 1868. He,accepting the statement of Madala Panji says,Madala Panji “corroborates the copper plateinscriptions of the Ganga kings wherefrom welearnt that the temple of Konark was built in the18th year of reign of Narasingha Deva.”30

B7. Two years later, in 1870 W. W. Huntervisiting Konark states, the temple of Konark was“Built, according to the most trustworthy records,between 1237 and 1282 AD.”31

B8, Then after a long gap, in 1910 BishanSwarup says that, the main temple of Konark wasbuilt by Purandara Keshari in the first half of 9th

century.32

B9. In 1912 Man Mohan Ganguly, taking thecue from Rajendra Lal Mitra that Konark wasbuilt in the 18th year of reign of Narasingha andstudying the Ganga copper plate inscriptions,agrees with Madala Panji as he calculates it to be1276 AD, which almost matches with MadalaPanji’s figure of 1278 AD.33



B10. In 1919, Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra,going by Madala Panji, is of the opinion thatLangula Narasingha Deva built the present SunTemple in the year 1278 AD.34

B11. K. C. Panigrahi assumes that though thetemple was built by Narasingha Deva I it was notin 1278 AD. Its construction started after hissuccessful military expeditions against MuslimBengal in 1243 AD to 1247 AD.

B12. In 2005 Karuna Sagar Behera writes,“The climax of Sun worship, however, wasreached when king Narasimha-I, built the SunTemple of Konark in the mid-thirteenth century.”“He came to throne in 1238 AD.”35

B13. Now in 2021, Sanjay Kumar Baralstates in his book “The Real History of Konark”that Konark was not built in the 13th century byLangula Narasingha Deva; rather, it was built in9th century, before 850 AD by a king belongingto the Buddhist Tantrayana.36

Now we have so many dates for oneevent and the right one is to be determined. I wishsomeone finds the correct one by using modernscientific methods to date the metals used inconstruction of the temple and the fossil trappedin between stone slabs.

Continuing with our analysis, out of all thenames mentioned above only the statements madeby Madala Panji, Baya Chakada and Abul Fazlcan be considered as eyewitness statements ofthe golden days of Konark. However,unfortunately many scholars do not strictly assignany historical importance to Madala Panji, BayaChakada is yet to be recognised as a historicaldocument and Abul Fazl’s statements are riddledwith confusion as he personally did not visit thetemple and depended on the statements of hislocal representatives.

As per Madala Panji, since the days ofShamba Sun worship is continuing in a temple onthe bank of River Chandrabhaga. After a longgap of many ages, Purandara Keshari built a newtemple there, installed the image of Sun God, andfor continuation of worship, established eightBrahmin villages in Konark. Again after a longgap, Langula Narasingha Deva appointed hisminister Sibei Santara to build a new temple toreplace the dilapidated temple of Purandara.Madala Panji says, “After the rule ofAnangabhima Deva his son Langula NarasinghaDeva ruled for forty-five years up to Sakabda1204 or 1282 AD. He built a temple atArkakshetra (Konark) for Konark Deva (SunGod). It was written under the signature of theKing that, the temple of Anshumali (the Sun) wasbuilt by the Master of the World LangulaNarasingha Deva in Sakabda 1200 or the year1278 AD.” His wish was duly fulfilled, the newtemple was built and the image of Suryanarayana(Sun God) from Purandara’s old temple wasreinstalled in the new temple.37

Katakarajavamsavali, a Sanskrit text also statesthe same facts. Then Abul Fazl, assimilating whathe could from his agents’ information, agrees tothe fact that Narasingha Deva built the temple,but in the year 850 AD not in 1278 as mentionedin Madala Panji. He gave the right name of thebuilder but assigned him to a wrong period.Around 850 AD Purandara Keshari was ruling inOdisha, not Narasingha. It seems he got confusedwith the respective builders of the two temples,Purandar’s and that of Narasingha Deva. He alsomade some very wrong statements regarding themeasurement of the temple, Arun Pillar, compoundwall, etc., that indicate he never visited the site.Perhaps he did not visit the sacred zone personallyrespecting the Hindu sentiment as the temple waslive at the time. However, it is said that Tughan



Khan, the then Governor of Bengal invadedNarasimha Deva, the ruling King of Odisha in themiddle of 13th century only to be defeated byhim losing a huge amount of wealth, elephants andsoldiers. Konark Temple was built to mark thetriumph of Narasimha Deva over the Muslims.Hence, Abul Fazl’s opinion regarding the builderis accepted but not its time. Accepting NarasinghaDeva as the builder and contradicting MadalaPanji regarding its time, Andrew Stirling mentionsthat the temple was built in 1241 AD by LangulaNarasingha Deva. However, Stirling contradictshimself by mentioning that Narasingha Devaascended the throne in 1236 AD implying thatthe temple at Konark was completed within fiveyears which is absolutely impossible.38 Huntersays, “Stirling, in his account of the temple, is lesstrustworthy than the other portions of his valuableessay.”39 Hence, it is also not accepted. Nextcomes James Fergusson, a great scholar and afamous archaeologist, who believed in Abul Fazl’sstatement regarding time only and writes thatKonark Temple was built in the 9th century butnot by Narasingha Deva. To justify his opinion hehas depended on a wrongly conceptualised theoryof development cycle of Odisha sculpture. Whiledetermining the time of construction Fergussonsays, “After the erection of so degraded aspecimen of the art as the temple of Puri (AD1174) the style ever could have reverted toanything beautiful as this (Konark Temple).”40 Heconsiders Konark to have been built when thecultural skill cycle was at its peak and before thePuri Temple, which he considers an edifice ofmuch lower craftsmanship. However, the theoryof Fergusson has been strongly opposed byRajendra Lal Mitra and Pandit KrupasindhuMishra. Reacting to Fergusson’s comment aboutthe lime paste covered Puri Temple Rajendra LalMitra says, “I shall say nothing about the absence

of grace as it is an intangible quantity dependenta good deal on fancy and I must in that respectyield to the learned archaeologist though it wouldnot be amiss to ask how far that absence is dueto the covering up the details, and how much towant of taste in the architect.”41 Man MohanGanguly says, “The slab recovered from Konarkshows the image of Jagannatha which clearlyindicates the temple of Konark was built after 12th

century Puri temple was built.’’42 Gangulycontinues, “The argument of Fergusson seems tome fallacious; the abstract theory of evolution orinvolution has not a universal applicability withoutany consideration for circumstances.”43 Hence,Fergusson’s assessment is also not accepted.Rajendra Lal Mitra agrees with Madala Panji andconfirms that the Sun Temple was built on the18th year of reign of Langula Narasingha Deva inaround 1278 AD, and Hunter, agreeing withMadala Panji and Rajendra Lal Mitra, says thatKonark Temple was built between 1237 and1282 AD (during the reign of Narasingha Deva).Then comes Bishan Swarup who borrowing astring from Stirling and another strand from AbulFazl and then giving it a twist applying Stirling’sopinion states, “The temple of Konarka was builtby Purandara Keshari in the latter half of 9th

century though its Natamandir was constructedin 1241 AD by Raja (Nagroo) Narasinha Devaof the Gangetic dynasty.”44 He further states, “Itmay be noted that the date given in the seal (viz1200 Saka or 1278 AD) which is quoted by Dr.Rajendra Lal Mitra and so much relied upon byhim is utterly incorrect.”45 Man Mohan Gangulyin agreement with Mitra says, “I do not understandthe cogency of the reason which has led Mr. BishanSwarup to reject it as ‘utterly incorrect’.”46

Swarup is of the opinion that Madala Panji cannotbe trusted as it was rewritten whimsically and notwith facts after it was burnt by Kalapahada who



attacked Puri temple in the second half of 16th

century. However, according to PanditKrupasindhu Mishra the Panji is not kept in thetemple, it is kept in the house of Deula Karana,its writer, and there is no proof that it was burntby Kalapahada. Man Mohan Ganguly says,“According to Babu M. M. Chakravarti, NrisinhaDeva I ascended the throne in 1160 Saka andreigned up to 1186 Saka, i.e. from 1238 AD to1264 AD; hence the construction of the temple isdated in the year 1256 AD.”47 He further saysthat, according to Ganga copper plate inscriptionNarasingha Deva ascended the throne in 1258AD and Rajendra Lal Mitra states that Konarkwas built on the 18th year of reign of NarasinghaDeva, i.e. in 1276 AD (1258+18), that almostmatches with the date (1278 AD) given in MadalaPanji. Hence, he agrees with Madala Panji. PanditKrupasindhu Mishra, has devoted a completechapter (Chapter IX) in his Odia book“Konarka” to analyse the dates given by MadalaPanji, copper plate inscriptions and opinions ofmany scholars to finally infer that the Sun Templeat Konark was built by Langula Narasingha Devain the year 1278 AD.

Very recently, in the year 2021 SanjayKumar Baral some way restates the opinion ofFergusson and that of Abul Fazl related to its timeframe. He says that Narasingha ascended thethrone at a very troublesome period. Hence, itwould not have been possible for him to buildsuch a huge temple as he was under constant threatfrom outside enemies, and was extremely busy infighting battles and fortifying the defence systemof his kingdom by strengthening certain borderforts and arranging military power. So, SanjayKumar Baral is of the opinion that Konark wasnot built in 13th century and also not byNarasingha Deva. However, considering the

environment and policy of the time it is not rightto say so. The day to day administration,maintenance of law and order and internal securityin Utkala or ancient Odisha was fullydecentralised being vested on a council ofministers under the leadership of an able person.48

Though the king was heading the council he wasusually always out on military expeditions eitherto expand the boundary of his kingdom or tosubdue other kingdoms to collect wealth andvaluables to fund philanthropic activities in his ownkingdom. In 1244 AD and again in 1245 ADLangula Narasingha Deva attacked Bengal andlooted a huge amount of wealth from there. Againbetween 1247 and 1258 AD the Sultan of Bengalattacked Odisha three times and was defeatedevery time by Narasingha Deva, losing a lot ofwealth and a number of soldiers and elephants.49

Hence, on the contrary to the opinion of S.K.Baral, the kings fought battles to construct temples.It was more visible during the Ganga and latterperiods than that of the peace loving Kesharis.K.C. Panigrahi, regarding Narasingha Deva andKonark Temple, observes, “His victory over theMuslims of Bengal and his acquisition of theSouthern districts of West Bengal must haveenormously raised his prestige in the eyes ofcontemporary Hindu rulers, and augmented hisresources which in all likelihood enabled him toundertake the construction of a stupendousstructure like the temple of Konark, designed toexhibit his power, prestige, opulence, devotionand perhaps to commemorate his victory also.”50

Presuming, according to K. C. Panigrahi, that theconstruction of the temple to have started afterNarasingha’s final victory over the Muslims, as ittook 12 years after that for completion and somemore years must have been spent in pre-planningand preliminary work, brings the completion timecloser to 1278 AD, the date given in Madala Panji.



Moreover Narasingha Deva’s passion was tobuild temples. He built temples at Srikurmam,Varaha Narasimha temple at Simhachalam, Sivatemple at Kapilas and Gopinatha temple atRemuna. Hence, in his lifetime he fought manybattles to acquire funds, and to expand andestablish his power in all three directions, north,south and west.

Therefore, it may be assumed that thetemple construction was started after NarasinghaDeva’s final victory over the Muslims who didnot dare to attack Odisha again within the next200 years. The temple construction wascompleted around 1278 AD.

C. The next controversy about the SunTemple at Konark is if Suryanarayana (Sun God)was ever worshipped there or the templecollapsed even before its completion.

C1. According to Madala Panji the templewas completed and worship of Suryanarayanacontinued there for many years.

C2. Abul Fazl has not mentioned anything inAin-i-Akbari about the ruined condition ofKonark Temple. Hence, it may be assumed that,in 1580 AD it was in good condition.

C3. M. H. Arnott believes that the templecollapsed while removing sand from inside thetemple just after completion of construction. Thetemple was never consecrated or worship started.

C4. Rajendra Lal Mitra was initially of theopinion that the temple was never completed butchanged his opinion later and said that worshipwas going on in the temple.

C5. Hunter following Rajendra Lal Mitra saidthat temple was never completed, but laterchanged his opinion and stated that the worshipof Suryanarayana was going on there.

C6. Bishan Swarup, finding some wear andtear marks on the throne, believes that worshipwas going on in the temple for quite a long time.

C7. Man Mohan Ganguly believes that thetemple was completed and consecrated.

C8. Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra says that thetemple was completed and Suryanarayana wasbeing worshipped there for almost 300 years.

C9. Percy Brown finding some parts of thetemple belonging to the top lying unscathed onthe ground says temple was never completed asthese parts were never raised to the top.

C10. Alice Boner says that the first worship inthe temple was started on a specificChandrabhaga Snana Yatra day that occurred ona Sunday.

C11. K. C. Panigrahi, disagreeing with M. H.Arnott and Percy Brown says that the temple wascompleted and Sun God was worshipped in thetemple.

C12. Karuna Sagar Behera also believes thatthe temple was under worship.

Madala Panji describes in detail about thedistribution of responsibilities and increasedallotment of funds by the King for various dailyrituals and festivals conducted in the Sun Templeand for the other sacred deities in and around it.Had the temple collapsed before its consecrationthe King would not have done so. In 1580 AD,while writing about Konark Temple in Ain-i-Akbari Abul Fazl has not mentioned anythingregarding its damaged condition. Rather, from hisdescription it seems that the temple along withother structures in and around the campus werein perfect condition, or if some part was damagedit did not hamper its general appearance oractivity. Hence, it may be inferred that during Abul



Fazl’s visit to Odisha the temple was alive, beingunder worship, for which, not to hurt the sentimentof the Hindus, Abul Fazl did not visit the templepersonally. In 1568, twelve years before AbulFazl’s visit, Kalapahada had attacked the temple.Hence, as believed, Kalapahada did not carryaway the Kalasha and the Dhwajapadma withhim otherwise the worship would not be continuingthen. With the weapons, tools and explosives ofthat age and at that height Kalapahada could nothave removed the super heavy crowning parts ofa huge temple like Konark. However, he couldhave inflicted severe injury there for the temple tohave gradually shedding its stone blocks over timefinally leading to its collapse. After 48 years ofAbul Fazl’s visit and 60 years of Kalapahada’sattack, in 1628, when King Narasingha Deva(1622 – 1646 AD) visited the temple the Kalashaand the Dhwajapadma were missing from the topthough the temple was still standing there with theimage of Suryanarayana still around. He had tocarry the idol to Puri temple as the temple wasalready abandoned. It seems, after continuingworship for almost 300 years the temple wasfinally abandoned and hence started todisintegrate rapidly towards the very end of 17th

century.

M.H. Arnott thought that the temple wasconstructed with a heap of sand filled inside andit collapsed immediately after completion whenthe sand mass was removed. He states, “Theweight above was not great enough to resist theinward tendency of the corbelling to fall in.”51 LikePandit Krupasindhu Mishra, Bishan Swarup alsodoes not agree with Arnott that sand filling wasdone to construct the temple. He thinks the useof levers, pulleys and simple machines to raiseheavy material was known to them.52 BishanSwarup found some wear and tear marks on thethrone which indicate the temple was in worship.

Observation of so many festivals like, Rath Yatraon Full Moon day in Phalguna (February–March)on Dola Purnima, Chaitra Yatra on the 8th day ofthe bright half of Chaitra (March–April), andMagha Saptami Chandrabhaga Snana Yatra inMagha (January–February) also prove that thetemple was in worship.53 Though Rajendra LalMitra, and being advised by him W. W. Hunterinitially believed that the temple collapsed beforeworship started, later after further study theychanged their opinion and supported continuationof worship. Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra says,“Had the temple collapsed before completion thenthe throne would not have been inside under aheap of stone as was seen during renovation as itcould not have been built inside the sand filledtemple.54 Karuna Sagar Behera says, “A plateinscribed with names of in-charge of storesrecovered from Konark and now available at theIndian Museum, Kolkata,” and “The BrahmaPurana and other epics of the 13th, 14th, 15th andthe 16th centuries describing either the procedurefor Sun Worship or descriptions of the temple ofKonark indicate its completion and continuationof worship.”55 He further states that thedepressions on the throne at its eastern edge, thedefaced lovely lotus petals on the topmostmoulding, two small yupa or sacrificial pillars nextto a small platform between Jagamohana andNatyamandapa and the construction of theJagamohana and the Natyamandapa itself and thatof so many subsidiary temples including thekitchen inside the campus indicate that the templewas in worship. “Reference made in Kenduliplates of Narasimha Deva IV of the Saka year1305 (1384 A.D.) shows that at that time themonument was in a perfect state of preservationand the presiding deity was under worship.”56

According to Alice Boner the first worship ofSuryanarayana at Konark was conducted on a



Magha Shukla Saptami (7th day in the WaxingMoon Period in the month of January-February),i.e. on the day of the Chandrabhaga Snana Yatrathat happened on a Sunday.57 However, PercyBrown believes that the temple collapsed beforeits completion as the heavy stone blocks atop thewalls could not be properly put into position andthe foundation began to give way. He says, “Itscolossal grandeur outstripped the means ofexecution, for its materialisation was beyond thecapacity of its builders, its scale was too great fortheir powers, and in the construction part theyfailed.” K. C. Panigrahi does not agree withBrown. Considering the opinions of scholars,engineers, archaeologists and some circumstantialevidences mentioned above, it seems, PercyBrown’s opinion does not hold steam.

Some hand drawn rough sketches anddescriptions from the old diaries of sailors sailingby Puri and Konark coastline also indicate thatthe temple of Konark was standing tall during thosedays and served as a landmark for the navigatorsin the deep sea. In 1676 Sir Streynsham Master,Governor of Fort St. George, Madras sawKonark and Jagannatha temples while sailing pastthe coast and recorded it in his diary. In 1679 asketch of the Black Pagoda in an unknown sailor’sdiary shows the main tower and the porch. In1680 the logbook of Captain Talbott of the ship‘Berkley Castle’ shows two sketches of the BlackPagoda showing both the main temple and theJagamohana with relative perspective. However,the topmost part must have been missing as it wasnot there in 1628 AD. In 1756 sailors gave similardescriptions of the temple. In 1764 a French mapprepared by Croisey shows Konark as ‘PagodaNoir.’ In 1780 Dunn wrote about Black Pagodaresembling like a large ship under sail. Probablywith its survived portion of the fallen tower stillstanding, as seen by Fergusson in 1837, it looked

like that. All these references point to the fact thatthe temple of Konark, both the main temple andthe Jagamohana, were standing tall almost till theend of the 17th century without much damage tothe structures excepting the crowning parts at itstop.

All the facts stated above proves thatconstruction of the Sun Temple at Konark alongwith all the subsidiary temples inside and outsidethe campus were completed and worship ofSuryanarayana, known as Biranchinarayana also,was going on there almost for 300 years.

D. Legends get associated with the subjectin the form of folk tales, folk songs and folk playswhen its phenomena or the acts go beyond theintellect of the common people. Though legendsdo not receive any importance from the historians,I believe, “Every story has a core of truth,” howthin be it may. Recognising its core definitely helpsin discovering the history about the subject whenno direct records are available.

D1. The Legend about Shamba andMaitreya Vana: According to Karuna SagarBehera the legend about Shamba was originallyassociated with Mitravana located at Multan inthe Punjab. However, the 15th century epic KapilaSamhita mentions about Shamba, Maitreya Vanaand River Chandrabhaga58 indicating that by 15th

century the legend was gradually dissociated fromthe original Mitravana and got fully associatedwith Maitreya Vana at Konark. As the epics ofdifferent periods state that Maitreya Vana waslocated at the seacoast Pandit KrupasindhuMishra and other scholars strongly believe thatMaitreya Vana and River Chandrabhaga did existat Konark. The wide practice of Sun worship inOdisha since the ancient times is also proved bya 6th century inscription, the Sun images presentin temples of Parsurameshwara, Vaitala,



Mukteshwara and Lingaraja of 7th, 8th, 10th and11th century respectively and some separatedimages found at various places. Though, initiallythere were five different sects of Hindus like,Saiva, Vaishnava, Soura, Shakta and Ganapatya,under the influence of Jagannatha cult except Saivaand Vaishnava all others have practicallydisappeared. Nevertheless, even today everyHindu, irrespective of his sect, worships the Suneveryday, signifying the popularity of Sun worshipin Odisha. It being a mythological story there isno way to prove the legend as true than to dependon epics. True or not, the legend establishes theimportance attached to Sun worship in Odishaand recognition of the Sun as a healer.

D2. Legend about Ramachandi and SibeiSantara: The beautiful story about Ramachandiappearing before Sibei Santara in a stormy night,offering him shelter for the night and dinner of hotporridge, and then instructing him to eat the hotdish from the side, not like Sibei Santara fillingthe gorge starting from the centre. Eating fromthe centre would burn his fingers. GoddessRamachandi was located on the bank of RiverChandrabhaga, a large and turbulent river. SibeiSantara was trying to fill up a portion of the gorgeto build the temple of Konark on it. However, hewas unsuccessful as the stone blocks dropped into the river gorge at its centre were being washedaway by its strong current. Since GoddessRamachandi was seated at his worksite SibeiSantara used to pray her everyday for blessingsto succeed in his project. One day, being worriedof his failure in filling the gorge he was on his wayto meet the king when a sudden rainstormappeared from nowhere and he had to take shelterin a hut for the night. To save him fromdisappointment Ramachandi appeared as an oldlady and instructed him on how to do his job.

The local people mention, what they heard fromtheir seniors generation after generation, that SibeiSantara used to pray before two goddesses everyday, one near his residence, i.e. Gangeshwari, andthe other at his worksite, Ramachandi. UnlessRamachandi was near to his worksite SibeiSantara would not have prayed before hereveryday. To pay his obeisance Sibei Santara builttemples for both the goddesses on successfulcompletion of his project. The legend implies thatRamachandi pre-existed the present Sun Templeon the bank of River Chandrabhaga and thetemple of Konark was built after filling up its gorgeunder supervision of Sibei Santara.

D3. Legend about Dharmapada: A legendsimilar to that of Dharmapada or Dharama is alsoassociated with the temple of Varaha Narasinghain Simanchalam though with a different name, saysKaruna Sagar Behera. He further states that thename Dharmapada was assigned to theprotagonist only recently by Pandit Gopabandhu.It is true that there was immense pressure on thecraftsmen to complete the temple as the targetdate was advanced by the king to consecrate thetemple on the Chandrabhaga Snana Yatra day thatwas occurring on a Sunday. For the sculptors itmust have been very difficult and time consumingto lift the huge and heavy Amalaka Shila, Kalasha,etc. to the top and install there. When thisstupendous task was completed after muchdifficulty guided by someone’s skill and intellectsomebody must have given it a dramatic touchand the legend evolved. The legend carries notruth. From the legend, apart from the fact thatthe temple was located by the side of a waterbody, we learn that 1200 craftsmen were workingcontinuously for 12 years to complete the templestaying away from their homes and families forthe entire period of construction.



D4. Legend about Ramachandi andKalapahada: The story about Ramachandimaking a fool of Kalapahada and escaping fromhis clutch on the plea of fetching some water fromthe river on promise to return to him, only to breakher promise, is just a myth having no truth in it.Karuna Sagar Behera says that the same storywith a different name for Kalapahada characterhas also been described in Odia Mahabharata ofSarala Das which precedes Kalapahada’s storyat least by a century. The legend indicates thatthe temple of Ramachandi was located insideKonark campus and was attacked byKalapahada. It also suggests that a river wasflowing nearby and Ramachandi, after her templewas destroyed, migrated from the compound ofKonark to the present location at the mouth ofRiver Kushabhadra.

D5. Legend about the Magnet placedatop the temple: It is said that a very powerfulmagnet in the form of a crowning stone (Kalasha)placed atop the temple was attracting ships sailingin the sea towards it and was disturbing theirnavigation equipment. Once some affected sailorscame and took away the magnet after removingit from the top which later caused the temple tocollapse. However, it is impossible for a stone-magnet or magnetite of that size and placed atthat height of Konark temple to act in that way.Had it even the power of the strong modern rare-earth magnets it would not have been possiblefor it to attract the ships sailing in the high sea; itwould not have affected even their magneticnavigation instruments. Had it been so, life of thepeople living nearby would have been miserableas the magnet would have snatched away all oftheir agricultural equipment, implements andweapons, etc. made of iron. Since at the time,the abandoned temple was overgrown with shrubsand trees and was infested with snakes, lizards

and wild animals, and the dreaded Portuguesepirates operating at the eastern coast made it theirden, local people were scared to come near it.Every passing day the temple site was growingmore and more mysterious for them. Hence, thepeople living nearby being curious, started tocreate stories in their minds. It is true that thetemple was attacked many times by the Muslimswhich might have given an impression to the localsthat some sailors arrived at the shore one dayand took away the magnet from the temple-topthat was bothering them. Man Mohan Gangulysays, “In 1825, Andrew Stirling mentioned thestory of the Kumbha Pathar or loadstone, lodgedon the summit of the temple. When it was removedin the Mughal times, by the crew of a ship, thepriests, at the violation of the sanctity, removedthe image of the god to Puri temple and from thattime the temple became deserted and went rapidlyto ruin.”59 However, the loadstone was missingeven in 1628 AD and the idol was removed then.Though it is a myth the legend implies that thetemple was close to the sea and curious sailorsbeing attracted by its beauty from the distanceoften came sailing near the beach for a closer viewof it and in the process sometimes got stuck inthe shallow water.

D6. The installed image ofSuryanarayana was suspended in air: It is saidthat the image of Suryanarayana was installedsuspended and kept in equilibrium above thethrone without any support from any side, floatingin the air by a balanced magnetic force appliedon the idol from all sides. It is just a myth havingno truth in it. The idol of Suryanarayana was notmade of any magnetic material and no magnetswere placed around it. The idol was made of stoneand is now installed along with Indra in SuryaTemple, inside Jagannatha Temple compound inPuri. Again, the throne now available inside the



ruined main temple shows some wear and tearmarks that suggest that the idol was placed onthe throne, not floating above it. For portability, aChalanti Pratima or the representative idol of muchsmaller size, made of Astadhatu or an alloy ofeight metals is worshipped along with the maindeity and taken out only on festival days.Astadhatu is not a strong magnetic material.Hence, it is just a myth originated to createmysticism around the Sun God. Suspended orseated on the throne, the legend proves that theidol of Suryanarayana or Sun God was beingworshipped in the temple.

E. Is the Sun Temple at Konark of Buddhistorigin? In 1910 AD Bishan Swarup explains thatthe Sun Temple has its origin in Buddhism. Theconcept has been strongly opposed by RakhalDas Banerjee and Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra[Konarka (Odia) –Chapter XI]. Pandit Mishrasays, though adjacent to Konark was a Buddhistcentre as described by Hiuen Tsang, Konark isnot a Buddhist temple. His statement is provedafter the excavation at Kuruma.

E1. To Bishan Swarup right from the origin,location, the temples, the sculpture, the festivalsand rituals and even the idol of Suryanarayana ofKonark appear to be of Buddhist origin. He saysMaitreya is one of Buddha’s different names andMaitreya Vana is named after him. The Arka Batain Konark is imitated from Bodhidruma, a banyantree under which Buddha was enlightened.According to Hiuen Tsang there were manyBuddhist monasteries at Konark, hence BishanSwarup says Konark temple is one of them. Thefestivals like Rath Yatra or car festival is imitatedfrom Buddhists. He further says that the idol ofSuryanarayana is Buddha and the temple at south-west corner of the compound is the temple ofMaya Devi, Buddha’s mother. The scenes

displayed on the temple walls are Buddhist andthe use of elephants profusely in sculpture is aBuddhist tradition as elephant is one of the symbolsof Buddhism. Strongly opposing Bishan SwarupPandit Krupasindhu Mishra says that no scene inthe temple wall is Buddhist in nature and elephantsare also invariably used by the Hindus in religiousdrawings and decoration and even identified withcertain gods and goddesses [Konarka (Odia) Ch.XI]. Rajendra Lal Mitra says that unlike Hindutemples the compound walls of Buddhist stupasare invariably beautifully decorated whereas nosuch decoration is found at Konark and otherHindu temples. Hindu temples are verticallydivided into ten stages and have no openings atany stage unlike the Buddhist stupas which haveventilation windows at all stages. As per BishanSwarup the worship at Konark was observedaccording to Buddhist practices. Here BishanSwarup contradicts himself as he says the templewas built by a Saiva Keshari King. The Saivaswere very strict about their religious practices. Infact Saivas aggressively eradicated Buddhismfrom India. Everything at Konark, as BishanSwarup says, was not imitated from Buddhism.It was rather the other way. According to E. B.Havell and Rhys Davids Buddhism is not entirelya new concept in India; over the time it evolvedout of Hinduism. Hence, Bishan Swarup is notright; Konark is definitely not a Buddhist temple.

F. Now to our last controversy, “Whomthe two ruined temples, one brick temple and theother an exquisitely carved stone temple, locatedat the south-west corner of Sun Temple belongto?” As per Archaeological Survey of India thebrick temple is a 10th century Vishnu temple andthe other to Chhaya Devi, the consort of Sun God.I would like to humbly disagree and discuss aboutboth the temples briefly to identify them differently.



F1. Identification of the ruined stonetemple: The ruined stone temple located atsouth-west corner of the compound of SunTemple is densely and very exquisitely carved withthe same style as that of the Sun Temple. Thetemple is identified by (1) Bishan Swarup as thetemple of Maya Devi, the mother of Buddha, by(2) Baya Chakada as that of Maha Gayatri Devi,as (3) the old Sun Temple of Purandara Keshari,(4) Chhaya Devi Temple by K. C. Panigrahi andKaruna Sagar Behera, (5) some say it is just amodel built to pre-visualise the upcoming structureand finally as (6) Ramachandi Temple by ManMohan Ganguly and Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra.

Bishan Swarup identifies it as the templeof Buddha’s mother Maya Devi as he is of theopinion that the Sun Temple at Konark is aBuddhist temple and hence an ancillary templeconstructed inside the compound for Buddha’smother as the administrator of the complex seemsquite logical. He is proved absolutely wrong byMan Mohan Ganguly, Pandit Krupasindhu Mishraand others. The identification of it as Maha GayatriTemple also is not accepted as there is nojustification in bringing in Maha Gayatri to thislocation rather than other popular goddesses.According to K. C. Panigrahi and Karuna SagarBehera it was the pre-existing sun temple ofPurandara Keshari which was later converted tothe temple of Chhaya Devi, the consort of Sun,after the idol of Sun God was transferred to thenew temple. Karuna Sagar Behera further saysthat the style of sculpture in this temple differsfrom that of the new Sun Temple and rathermatches with that of 11th century. Here we mustremember that, Langula Narasingha Deva builtthe new Sun Temple as the old one was indilapidated condition. Hence, this temple musthave been also rebuilt by Narasingha as it was

included in the cluster inside the compound. Sohow the style could be different to be classifiedas belonging to a different age? The marginaldifference observed might have been due to itsconstruction by a different group of sculptors.Placing it in a different century would be likecommitting the same mistake again whatFergusson did while dating the Sun Temple.According to Vastu Shastra and Hindu traditionthe wife is seated at left side of husband and hencewe find the consort of the Presiding Deity of atemple complex is always located at left sidecorner of the Presiding Deity, like we find inLingaraja and Jagannatha temples. Moreover theleft side is mostly the north-west corner andaccording to Vastu it is designated for the sub-ordinate and the south-west for theadministrator.60 So, only the Administrator Deityof the complex, like the temple of Goddess Vimalain Puri Temple, is located at the right side cornerof the main deity. Hence, it just cannot be the oldsun temple or the temple of the consort of Sun,Chhaya Devi. It could be the temple ofAdministrator of the complex Ramachandi. Theremay have been a temple dedicated to ChhayaDevi at the north-west corner which is not seennow like many other temples once existing insidethe compound. Considering the other alternative,it seems too big and too elaborate for a modelbuilt for pre-visualisation and most importantly itwas not built like a chariot. The last alternative,i.e., the temple of Ramachandi, as proposed byPandit Krupasindhu Mishra and Man MohanGanguly seems to be right which is supported bythe fact that Ramachandi pre-existed there. Maybe the Goddess was the guardian deity of theplace and the idol was installed in a small templeor just under a tree or in the open against stoneslabs as we see in some remote areas. Since SibeiSantara was offering prayers to the goddess and



also to Gangeshwari daily for smooth executionof his project he built temples for both thegoddesses to show his obeisance. For the imagesof the Sun used as Parshwa Devatas or auxiliarydeities on the temple walls, it can be said thatNarasingha Deva, while rebuilding the temple, justto stay with the theme of the campus, used sunimages as Parshwa Devatas like it has been donein Lingaraja Temple in Bhubaneswar, presentingall the major gods within the compound, likeVishwakarma, etc. as Lingams. The legend aboutRamachandi and Kalapahada also supports thepresence of Ramachandi inside the temple campusand migrating later to the river mouth ofKushabhadra.

F2. Identification of the ruined bricktemple: The brick temple at south-west corneris referred to by Man Mohan Ganguly as “someunknown unfinished temple made of badly burntbricks,” is identified as a 10th century Vishnutemple. I think it is partially true. The Hindusregard the Sun as the first avatar. PanditKrupasindhu Mishra says, “At first the Sun wasconsidered as one and the only God. Then withprogress of culture and development of knowledgethe Sun was repositioned as one of the many godsworshipped then. The Sun was given the samestatus as that of Vishnu.”61 Rajendra Lal Mitrasays, “Vishnu was being considered the same asthe Sun in the Vedas.”62 According to R. D.Banerjee, “Some scholars think that Vishnu hasbeen evolved out of the Sun-god,…”63 BishanSwarup says, “As preserver of earth Sun can berepresented as Vishnu.”64 Hence, the identificationof the brick temple as a temple of Vishnu ispartially true because it could also be classifiedas a Sun temple, Vishnu being an avatar of theSun and artefacts of both types of temples beingthe same. So, I presume it to be a Sun Temple,

the Sun Temple of Purandara Keshari. Had itbeen just another Vishnu temple NarasinghaDeva, who was so concerned with the design,architecture and beauty of the campus must havehad rebuilt the temple with beautifully carved stoneblocks as he did with the other temples both insideand outside the compound. Why did he not rebuildthe ruined temple belonging to so important god?The reason is, it is the old Sun temple of PurandaraKeshari which he replaced with the new temple.Hence there was no need to rebuild the old one.Therefore, I would rather reasonably identify itas the old Sun temple of 9th century built byPurandara Keshari and not just a Vishnu templeof 10th century.

Myths, facts and controversies may haveenveloped the Sun Temple; irrespective of thatwe have to conserve whatever of it exists todayfor the posterity. We definitely do not want to seethe beautifully ornamented and profusely sculptedtemple to be renovated with plain and polishedstone blocks. In such case, may be after fivedecades, we will get to see a plain and shinyKonark Temple standing there without any grace.In Odisha the legacy of fine stone carving is stillcontinuing and we have craftsmen who can dothe job of replacing the damaged original blocks.To maintain transparency and be honest to theoriginal 1200 craftsmen, Sibei Santara andLangula Narasingha Deva a huge display boardindicating the replaced sections may be placed atthe site. Just think, if a painting of Van Gogh,Picasso or Leonardo da Vinci gets somehowdamaged should we mend it with a big plain whitepatch or use the best technology and skill availableto fix it to look like almost the original? However,it is neither easy nor the responsibility of only theOdias or the Indians. It is the responsibility of all



who have the fascination and the resources to takeinitiative and make it happen.

References:

01. Bishan Swarup – Konark: The Black Pagoda ofOdisha– Page 4

02. Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra – Konarka (Odia) –Page 37

03. Karuna Sagar Behera – Mythology and Sanctityof Konark – Page 6





08. Sudhansu Sekhar Rath – Extended English Editionof Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra’s KONARKA -Page 245

09. William K. Mohanty, others - Exploring the LostRiver(s)…– Odisha Review – November 2017 –Page 44

10. William K. Mohanty, others - Exploring the LostRiver(s)…– Odisha Review – November 2017 –Page 43

11. Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra – Konarka (Odia) –Page 56, 37

12. Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra – Konarka (Odia) –Page 138, 139 and Madala Panji


14. Madala Panji

15. Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra – Utkala Itihasa (Odia)–Page 39

16. Man Mohan Ganguly – Orissa and Her Remains –Page 437

17. Sudhansu Sekhar Rath – Extended English Editionof Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra’s KONARKA–Page 37

18. Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra – Konarka (Odia) –Page 222- 223

19. James C. Harley - The Art and Architecture of theIndian Subcontinent - Page. 251–254

20. Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra – Utkal Itihasa (Odia)–Page 49

21. Sudhansu Sekhar Rath – Extended English Editionof Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra’s KONARKA –Pages 15

22. Sudhansu Sekhar Rath – Extended English Editionof Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra’s KONARKA –Pages 37

23. Sudhansu Sekhar Rath–Extended English Edition-Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra’s KONARKA–Pages38 -39


25. Sudhansu Sekhar Rath – Extended English Editionof Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra’s KONARKA –Page 29


27. Abul Fazl Alami – Ain i-Akbari – Vol II – Translatedby Colonel Jarrett - Page 128

28. Andrew Stirling – Orissa: Its Geography, Statistics,History, Religion and Antiquities – Page 129

29. James Fergusson – History of Indian and EasternArchitecture – Page 426

30. Rajendra Lal Mitra – Antiquities of Odisha –Vol. II

31. William Wilson Hunter – Orissa – Vol I – Page 288

32. Bishan Swarup – Konark: The Black Pagoda ofOdisha– Page 72

33. Man Mohan Ganguly – Orissa and Her Remains –Page 480




35. Karuna Sagar Behera – Mythology and Sanctity

of Konark – Page 2, 10

36. Sanjay Kumar Baral - The History of Konark

37. Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra – Konarka (Odia) –

Page 138

38. Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra – Konarka (Odia) –

Page 139

39. William Wilson Hunter – Orissa Vol. I – Page 289

FN

40. James Fergusson - History of Indian and Eastern

Architecture - Page 426

41. Rajendra Lal Mitra – Antiquities of Odisha – Vol.

II – Page 11

42. Man Mohan Ganguly – Orissa and Her Remains –

P 482


P 481

44. Bishan Swarup – Konarka: The Black Pagoda of

Orissa – Page 72

45. Bishan Swarup – Konarka: The Black Pagoda of

Orissa – Page 71


P 479


P 479

48. Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra – Utkal Itihasa

(Odia)–Page 165

49. Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra – Utkal Itihasa (Odia)

– Page 112

50. K. C. Panigrahi – History of Orissa – Hindu Period

– Pages 413-414

51. Bengal District Gazetteer –Puri - Page 279

52. Bishan Swarup - Konarka: The Black Pagoda ofOrissa – Page 60

53. Bishan Swarup – Konarka: The Black Pagoda ofOrissa – Page 44-45


55. Karuna Sagar Behera – Mythology and Sanctityof Konark – Page 91 – 95


57. Alice Boner and Sadashiva Rath Sharma – TheNew Light on Konarka Sun Temple – Page xiv


59. Man Mohan Ganguly – Orissa and Her Remains –P 102

60. Sudhansu Sekhar Rath – Extended English Editionof Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra’s KONARKA –Page 5

61. Pandit Krupasindhu Mishra. Konarka (Odia) –Page 30

62. Rajendra Lal Mitra – Antiquities of Odisha – Vol.II – Page 151

63. R. D. Banerjee – Pre Historic Ancient and HinduIndia – Page 35

64. Bishan Swarup - Konarka: The Black Pagoda ofOrissa – Page 65

65. E. B. Havell - Aryan Rule in India- Page 50-51andRhys Davids - Buddhism-Page 33-34 & 181

Sudhansu Sekhar Rath, 62 Som Vihar, Saleswar, P.O.Jayapur, Bhubaneswar – 752101, E-mail:[email protected]



Devi Biraja’s temple at Jajpur established on 13th

century by Chandihar Jajati II. From Skandapurana, Vayu purana, Brahmanda purana,Brahma purana and from Mahabharat we cameto know about Devi Girija or Biraja and aboutJajpur the famous shakti pitha of Odisha.Mythologically Devi Sati’s naval portion fell here,so this exact area known as“Navigaya” where people offer“pinda” for their ancestors.Here Devi Biraja worshipped as“Mahisha marddini”.According to “BirajakshetraMahatmya”, after Devi Sati’snaval fell here Brahmaperformed a Yajna at the bankof river Vaitarani from whereDevi Biraja came out. So thatplace named as Biraja kshetraor Biraja Pitha.

Devi Biraja worshippedand decorated as Sabitri,Gayatri and Sarawati (somescholars mentioned her as Maha Laxmi, MahaKali and Maha Saraswati) which together calledas Devi Biraja. She is worshipped with her twoarms:in her left hand she is holding the tail of thedemon Mahishasur and in right hand she kills himby a trident. It is a rare two handed Durga idol ofthat time. The most beautiful iconography of Devi

Biraja is her crown. Her crown consists of miniGanesha statue, Vashuki, Shivalinga and Moon.All these symbolically recognises her as Adi Shaktior Aadi para Shakti.

Like Puri Jagannath temple’s “Madalapanji” Biraja temple also maintains “Biraja Madalapanji” from which we can get much knowledge

on the rituals, trends and otheractivities of this Pitha. Like“Jagannath Panji”, “Biraja panji”is used by the people of Jajpurto know the date, time and daysof rituals which are observedevery year. She is the onlyGoddess of Odisha who haveher own chariot festival or Rathayatra. In this Pitha behind all thefestivals of Goddess Biraja,Shakta tantric rituals are basicprinciple but all are conductedas Brahmanical type of worship.

Rath yatra or Navaratri ofGoddess Biraja:

The Somavamshis added this Rath Yatrafestival for Goddess Biraja. On Bhadrab shukladwadashi (SUNIA) Banajaga Jatra orprocession to find trees for the chariot isperformed. This procession is known as BilwaBarani. At Pratistha Mandap during Mulastami

Goddess Biraja and Her Chariot Festival

Subhashree Mishra



a ceremony is performed to build up the chariot.After the chariot work is completed the mainfestival of Sarada Durga puja or Ratha Yatrabegins. The next day of MAHALAYA onPratipada tithi Ratha yatra is begins. As it isimpossible to move the performed of Devi Biraja,a small idol of Devi Biraja represent her duringthe chariot festivals. During this Navaratri thechariot of goddess movew around the entirecompound once in a day for nine days. On 9th

day of her Yatra Aparajita puja is performed.After this puja Devi Biraja kills the demonMahisasura then move towards LakhabindhaGround for another puja purpose at the mid nightof the same day where she is worshipped as“Mahamari”. Here Goddess named Lakseswariat the lakhabindha ground worshipped and offereda special drink. After the Puja is over the priestthrows arrows to four directions as therepresentative of Devi Biraja. After all theserituals Devi Biraja returns to her temple.

Details of the Chariot:

The chariot of Devi Biraja is known as“Singhadhwaja (flag bearing a lion) Ratha”.It is decorated with red, white and black clothes

as the symbol of Mahalaxmi, Maha Saraswati andMaha Kali. In this chariot ChaturmukhaBrahma is on the place of Sarathi. The chariotis 45 hands in height and consists of 12 wheels.Each wheel having 8 number of spokes or Ara.Devi Saraswati is the protector, Brahmacharini isthe power and Kushavadra, Mandakini,Bruddha, Ganga and Yamuna were thedwarapalika of this chariot. Five horses namedas Asti, Bhaanti, Priya, Naama and Rupa and twosnakes (Swarnachuda and Shankhachuda) areattached to this chariot. Maha Vishnu andNarasihma are the rakshak or ratha rakshak. 24parswadevatas and 9 parswadevis are also therein this chariot. The Dhwajachakra of this chariotis named as Parama Vaishnavi. As Gandharba-Chitrasena and as head of chariot Brahmabartaattached with this chariot. It is believed that MahaTripura Sundari lives in the flag of this chariot.Sambhabi vidya, Hati vidya, Kadi vidya, Sadividya and Rahasya vidya are the names of thevidyas present on the chariot. Some weapons likeDunduvi, Tunira, Bow and Arrow, Hunter, Pharsa,Katari, Sword and some medicines are alsocarried as war equipments in this chariot also.

People believe that whoever witnessesDevi Biraja on chariot must get moksha and theirsuccessor gets protection from the power of evilsand from dangerous situtions. Peoples from nearand far areas come here to enjoy this festival andto get blessings of Goddess Biraja. From all theseactivities of this Ratha yatra we get much ideason the Shaktism of Odisha and on the importanceof Goddess Biraja as Aadi shakti. It is a uniquefestival of Odisha where mother goddess haveher own chariot festival. It is also a beautifulexample of Shakti culture of Jajpur.

Subhashree Mishra, Christ College, Cuttack.



Honey bee is a social insect. It remains in thegroup. It is also called as a productive insect dueto its contribution in preparation of honey. Honeyis used in ‘Panchamruta’ which is being utilized inritual festivals. It is used as an ingredient inpreparation of different medicines to cure thediseases. Beekeeping is an age-old tradition inIndia. From the Puranic age it has been continuingtill date. Honey bees are good pollinators forcross-pollinated crops.

Odisha is a land of agriculture covering155.7 lakh hectares. Its 85% of peoples remainin rural areas. Due to its diversified agro ecologicalsituation coupled with large number fauna and floraspecies and presence of natural resources that isrocks, mountains, lakes, streams, river and forestland. Mahatma Gandhi in 1936-37 gave priorityto beekeeping as a small scale industry. But in1936 bee keeping was started near ‘Bari’,presently in Jajpur district. The State Khadi andVillage Industry Board (KVIB) took theresponsibility in 1956-57 to spread bee keepingin different districts of Odisha as agro-basedindustry. Basing on recommendation of NationalCommission on Agriculture in 1976, ICARlaunched the all India Coordinated Project onHoney bee Research and Training (AICRP onHoney bee Research and Training) in 1980-81 in

six different centres. In 1983 a centre wassanctioned by the council to operate in Odisha.Since that period the project is operating in theDepartment of Entomology, College ofAgriculture, Odisha University of Agriculture andTechnology (O.U.A.T), Bhubaneswar forpromotion of bee keeping in state with objectivesto utilize honey bees for pollination in cross-pollinated field crops, to undertake research onbee breeding for disease resistance and highyielding strains, to conduct location specificresearch on Honey bees diseases, enemies andtheir management, to conduct multi-location trialsin different agro-climatic zones on themanagement of bees for higher hive products,organize and impart training on several aspectsof bee keeping especially for mass queen rearingand production of organic honey. During 11th planperiod (2007-2012) the project was renamed as

Progress of Bee Keeping in Odisha

Prof. Bishnu Charan Jena



“All India Coordinated Research Project onHoney bees and Pollinators” due to other beesas pollinators of the crops. The objectiveformulated earlier was modified. The modifiedobjectives were to undertake research on honeybees, bees and non pestiferous pollinators andgenerate technologies for their conservation,augmentation and utilization for pollination ofdifferent crops and trees in various agro-climaticzones, to conduct research on bee breeding fordisease resistance and high yielding strains toboost production of hive products, to beginlocation specific research on management ofhoney bees, bees and other pollinators and theirdiseases, enemies and their management, toprepare data base relative abundance of differentnative insect pollinators on several crops indifferent agro-climatic regions and to organize andimpart “trainers training” on bee pollinators andscientific bee keeping.

Honey bees in Odisha: There are five speciesof honey bees which are prevalent in Odisha. (Apiscerana indica), Indian hive bee, stingless bee(Trigona iridipennis), Italian bee (Apis mellifera),Rock bee (Apis dorsata) and little bee (Apisflorea).

Suitable ecological condition of bee keepingin Odisha

Odisha is an agrarian state of India with155.7 lakh hectares of land. Its 85% people comeunder rural population. Its agro-ecologicalcondition is very diversified with mountains,rocks, rivers, and waterfalls and many species offauna and flora. The honey bees collect pollenand nectar from flowers like Niger, mustard,sesamum, sun flower, safflower, jowar, bajara,maize, ragi, green gram, black gram, Bengal gram,

arahar, cowpea, horse gram, bean, pea, coriander,chilies, beverages, cucumber, muskmelon,watermelon, cucurbites, brinjal, ladies finger,tomato, pointed gourd, ridge gourd, snake gourd,radish, cabbage, cauliflower, onion, coconut,mango, guava, litchi, sapeta, lemon, orange,banana, moringa, papaya, tamarind, mahua,eucalyptus, jaman, amla, karanja, neem, arjuna,asana, kusum, sal, piasal and kadamba. Besidesthe honey bees visit the flowers of creepers,various thorny, medicinal, onnament and fodderplants.

Period of Bee activities in Odisha

The activities of honey bee has beenobserved in Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur,Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Puri andGanjam districts of Odisha due to availability offoraging plants species. Bee activities commencefrom October onwards due to prevalence ofcongenial environment.

Enemies of Honey bee

Different species of wasp, spiders, lizard,cockroaches, black dermestid beetles. Beehunter, assassin black and white banded ants’Lepismatid and Apanteles galleriae are found bythe scientists and some of the post graduatestudents.

Basing on the importance of beekeepingin India Randhawa Committee in 1992recommended to include beekeeping in courseprogramme of final year of B. Sc.(Ag) under thetitle, Rural Agricultural Work ExperienceProgramme (RAWEP). Some of the studentschoose the course as elective. Besides, theApiculture is being taught to the B. Sc. (Ag)students regularly.



Research findings: The scientists of the projectand some post graduate students of Departmentof Entomology, College of Agriculture,Bhubaneswar conducted several research trailsin different aspects of honeybee basing on farmersneed of the state. Some of the research findingsare explained for adoption of farmers of the state.Keeping bee colonies @3-5Per acre of mustard,sesamum, Niger, sunflower and safflower cropincreased the seed yield to the extent of 10.6,25, 33.0, 79 and 64% respectively. Similarly inlitchi orchard the fruit yield was increased to thetune of 10.3 per cent. In tribal areas the provisionof sugar solution with Niger flowers attractedhoneybees for pollination of crops. Among thethree species of honeybees viz; A. cerena indica,A. dorsata and A. florea, A. cerena indica is foundto be most predominant forager. Bee pollinationincreased 25% seed yield of coriander and oilcontent in mustard and sesamum. Queen matingwas found to be most successful in March andDecember of the year. The diets like parched gramflour, corn, flour, skimmed milk powder and sugarsolution (35:15) in 20:20:10:50 proportion aremost preferred for beekeeping.

Training on beekeeping: One of the aspect ofthe objective is to train the tribal’s and otherfarmers interested for beekeeping in potentialareas of the state, the project, AICRP onhoneybees and pollinators under O.U.A.T,Bhubaneswar center organized training on variousaspects of beekeeping to farmers of KVKS,ATMA, NRCWA, NGOS, Self help groups andKVIP. During the period from 1984 to 2011 -2012, 11366 beneficiaries of the state have beentrained through 141 training programmes.

Technology generated and transferred to thefarmers community

The technologies which are to be adoptedby the Farming communities of Odisha are asfollows: To maintain the healthy colonies severalbee management practices have been suggested.Periodic inspection of colonies, cleaning of bottomboard, removal of old combs, drone managementand swarm control for A.c. indica have also beentransferred. The safest pesticides particularly thebotanicals are advised to control crop pests andpollinators. The introduction of the Italian honeybee in the tribal areas and their management forhigher production of honey to increase thefinancial status of tribal’s is the outcome of theresearch of the project.

It has been revealed from the study thatkeeping 10 boxes with 10 colonies in tribal districtsof Odisha viz Koraput, Kandhamal, Sundragarh,Mayurbhanja and Keonjhar the initial expenditureis estimated to be Rs.33100.00. In the closing ofthe first year the income out of selling of honey inmarket is about Rs.15,000.00. In the third yearonwards the profit is around Rs.31250.00. Theproduction goes on years after year. Therefore, itis a profitable enterprise with involvement of lessinitial expenditure and less annual maintenancecost.

Dr. Bishnu Charan Jena, Plot No.1815/1817, Jagamara,Barabari, Lenka Sahi, Po-Khandagiri-751030,Bhubaneswar.



‘It would be my proud privilege ifSeptember 5th is observed as “Teachers Day”.Such was the humble reply of a gentleman sittingover the highest chair of Constitutional power andposition, when some of his friends and studentsrequested him to allow them for celebrating 5th

September as his birthdayevery year. On anotheroccasion, when a student ofOxford University asked thisgentleman holding the post ofProfessor by that time, ‘Whatis the difference between astation master and a schoolmaster?’, he coolly replied, ‘astation master minds the trainand a school master trains themind’. Further we pay oursalute to this gentleman at theapex of political power foraccepting Rs.2,500 out ofRs.10,000 salary anddonating the rest of theamount to the Prime Minister’sNational Relief Fund everymonth.

The gentleman we are taking about is noneother than our beloved and revered president of

the past Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Let’s nowmake a glance over his early life and family, hiseducation, his career as a teacher, his politicalcareer, his views on contemporary religion,philosophy and education.

A prominent academician andphilosopher, a promisingpolitician and statesman, aprolific writer and scholar – allrolled in one –beingwonderfully blended to find atime-tested and livelyexpression in Radhakrishnan.

Born to SarvepalliVeeraswami, a sub-ordinaterevenue official under Britishraj and Sarvepalli Sitamma, ahousewife in a modest butpoor Telugu-speaking NiyogiBrahmin family of thiruttani,Madras Presidency, BritishIndia (Now Tamil Nadu,India) on 5th September 1888,Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnanwas destined to become the

first vice president of India (1952-62) and secondpresident of India (1962-67). He had his primary,secondary and higher secondary education at

Salute to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Dr. Bidya Bhusan Mohanty



Thiruttani’s K.V. High School, Tiruvallur’sGowdie School, Tirupati’s HermannsburgEvangelical Lutheran Mission School, Walajapet’sGovernment Higher Secondary School andVellore’s Voorhees College. He enrolled himselfin the most prestigious Madras Christian Collegewhere he graduated with philosophy Hons. anddid his post-graduation in Philosophy (1906-08).Throughout his students’ career, he was awardedseveral scholarships which considerably helpedhim to continue his higher studies without break.His Bachelor’s Degree thesis entitled. ‘The Ethicsof the Vedanta and it’s MetaphysicalPresuppositions’ vehemently battled against theaccusation that the Vedanta scheme did not haveany quarter for ethics. But being highly appreciatedby two of his professors Rev. William Mestonand Dr. Alfred George Hogg, the thesis waspublished when he was 20 years of age.

He was married to Sivakamuamma, hisdistant cousin at the age of 16, got blessed withfive daughters and one son and spent a happymarried life for about 51 years. His son Dr. S.Gopal emerged as a promising Indian historiancredited with the authorship of biographies ofDr. Radhakrishnan and Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.

After the completion of higher education,Radhakrishnan started his teaching career as aLecturer of Philosophy at Madras PresidencyCollege, Madras in April 1909 and successfullygot through the screening test of L.T. training toqualify for the permanent post of AssistantProfessor and Professor in the same college. In1916, he was appointed to the Department ofPhilosophy of Government Arts College,Rajamundry (A.P.) as Professor. In 1918, he wasappointed as Professor of Philosophy at theUniversity of Mysore where he was privileged toteach the students at Maharaja’s College, Mysore

and to write several useful articles for theprestigious journals such as ‘The InternationalJournals of Ethics’, ‘The Quest’ and ‘The Journalsof Philosophy’ for three years. In 1921, he wasselected for appointment to the post of Professorof Philosophy at the University of Calcutta wherehe held the highly distinguished King George VChair of Mental and Moral Science. It is pertinentto mention here that while on move to take up hisnew assignment at the University of Calcutta,some of his loving students of Mysore Universitytook their much adored and admired Professorto the station in a carriage decorated with beautifulflowers. In June 1926, he represented theUniversity of Calcutta at the British EmpireUniversities Congress and in September 1926,he made his intellectual presence felt at theInternational Congress of Philosophy at HarvardUniversity. That year he accepted Upton Lectureat Manchester College where he made asignificant mark of his intellectual excellence.

In 1929, on an invitation, he assumed theoffice of the Principal, Manchester College,Oxford after J. Estlin Carpenter and brilliantlydelivered Hibbert Lecture on ‘The ideals of Life’which was later on published in an outstandingbook form “An Idealist view of Life”. In 1930,he was appointed as Haskell Lecturer inComparative Religion at the University ofChicago. In 1931, he held the most dignified officeof the Vice-Chancellor, Andhra University (A.P.)and continued in that position for five years. Hewas then fortunate enough to become the firstIndian to hold a Professorial chair at the OxfordUniversity, London where he served as a well-known Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion andEthics in 1936. In 1938, he was elected as afellow of All Souls college and that of BritishAcademy. In 1939, he was invited to succeed



Pt. Madan Mohan Malavya as the Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University wherehe continued for 9 years. He also chaired theUniversity Education Commission in 1948, andinitiated several significant measures for thepromotion of education all over the country asper the country’s need. His teaching career inseveral distinguished positions spanned over alength of time stretching from 1909 to 1952. Heheld the respectable position of being theChancellor of the University of Delhi from 1953to 1962 and focused on the remarkabledevelopment of Higher Studies and Research.

In his life and extensive writing career,Radhakrishnan proved himself to be a veryprominent, powerful and influential writer ofextraordinary scholarship. He is said to have beencredited with a wide range of Literary works inform of books and articles of utmost philosophicrigour and spiritual fervour. Some of his highlydistinguished books are Philosophy ofRabindranath Tagore (1918), Indian Philosophy2 Vols (1923), An idealist view of life (1929),Eastern Religion and Western Thought (1939),Religion and Society (1947), The Bhagavad Gita(1948), The Dhammapada (1950), ThePhilosophy of Upanishads (1953), Recovery ofFaith (1956), The Brahmasutra (1959), Religion,Science & Culture (1968), The Reign of Religionin Contemporary Philosophy, Religion in aChanging World, East and West in Religion, Eastand West : Some Reflections, The Hindu view oflife, The Philosophy of spiritual life, living with apurpose, The pursuit of Truth, The Heart ofHindustan : A Collection of Seven Essays & manymore. Tagore’s Philosophy, he claimed was ‘thegenuine expression of the Indian spirit’.

In most of his published books, write-ups and lectures, Radhakrishnan has earnestly

endeavoured to describe, defend and propagatehis faith which he referred to in various terms-‘Hinduism’, ‘Vedanta’, ‘religion of the spirit’against all possible what he termed as ‘UninformedWestern Criticism’. With a string religiousconviction, he tried to establish that Hinduism, asreflected in Vedanta, was philosophically soundand ethically valuable. His philosophy was deeplyrooted in Advaita Vedanta and he powerfullyreinterpreted it in terms of its direct intuitiveexperience and inner realization to shape theunderstanding of Hinduism both in India and theWest. In him, we find Vedanta getting an accessto the west where it satiated the spiritual hungerof the Europeans and Americans with propernourishment in the early decade of 20th century.All his rich ideas and powerful writingsenormously contributed to the formation of Indiaas ‘a nation-state’ as well as to the hegemonicstatus of Vedanta as the ‘essential world view ofHinduism’. Further, his extensive knowledge ofthe eastern and western philosophical traditionsbrought him the glory of being a ‘bridge-maker’between India and the west. To him, the truth anddiversity of human nature as grounded in theabsolute should have proper recognition intheology and creeds that rested upon intellectualformulations and religious experience.

Radhakrishnan defines education as an‘instrument for social, economic and culturalchange’. Apart from providing extensiveknowledge, information, skill and training, it instillsinto human mind a sense of discipline, moralvalues, creativity and critical thinking power tosort out many issues in life. It makes a manphysically, mentally and spiritually complete andteaches him the art of living through refinement ofheart and mind. It generates an opportunity forformation of character, development of



personality, training of leadership, developmentof secular and scientific attitude, cultivation ofsocial, moral, spiritual and democratic values;preservation, enrichment and transmission ofculture and finally development of nationalism andinternational understanding.

Radhakrishnan was honoured withseveral outstanding awards such as “Knighthood”in 1931, Bharat Ratna, India’s highest CivilianAward in 1954, German ‘Order pour le Merite’in 1954, The Peace Prize of the German BookTrade in 1961, Institution of Teacher’s Day on5th Sept. every year in honour of Radhakrishnan’sBirthday, Honorary membership of the BritishRoyal Order of Merit in 1963, Sahitya AcademyFellowship in 1968, The Templeton Prize in 1975,Institution of the Scholarship renamed asRadhakrishnan Chevening Scholarship andRadhakrishnan Memorial Award by OxfordUniversity in 1989.

It deserves a special mention here thatRadhakrishnan was the first person to behonoured with the highest honour of SahityaAcademy Fellowship for his rich contribution toliterature. From the honour of being ‘Knight hood’till India’s attainment of freedom, he wasaddressed as “Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan” butin the post-independence period he becamewidely known as “Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan”.He was awarded Templeton Prize, a few monthsbefore his demise for advocating ‘non-aggression’and conveying ‘a universal reality of God thatembraced love and wisdom for all people’. Witha commitment to the cause of education, hedonated the entire amount of the Templeton Prizeto the Oxford University. From 1933 onwards,he was nominated 16 times for the Nobel Prizefor Literature and 11 times for Nobel Peace Prize.He was one of the founder members of Helpage

India, a premier non-profit organizationcommittedly working for the well-being of theelderly underprivileged in India.

After a promising academic career,Radhakrishnan joined politics in the later part ofhis life. By virtue of his pervasive knowledge andintellectual brilliance, he could have an abidinginfluence in Indian politics as well as in foreignaffairs in post-independence period. He made hispresence strongly felt in the Andhra Mahasabhaof 1928 where he advocated the idea of renamingthe ceded Districts Division of Madras PresidencyRoyalaseema. In 1931, being appointed to theLeague of Nations Committee for Intellectual Co-operation, he held an identity among theintellectuals as a Hindu expert on Indian Ideas. In1946, he was elected to the Indian ConstituentAssembly for two years and then in 1948-49, heheaded the Indian delegation to the newly formedUNESCO. He initially served as an active sittingmember of the Executive Board of UNESCO andsubsequently became its elected Chairman andthen India’s ambassador to UNESCO. In 1949,he was appointed India’s ambassador to Moscowby the then Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehruand continued that dignified office till 1952. Onhis return to India, he was elected as first Vice-President of India (1952-62), first Chairman ofRajya Sabha and then was elected as the secondPresident of India (1962-67) after Dr. RajendraPrasad. In 1959, he was accompanied byPt. Nehru on a foreign tour and his gradualinfluence in political circle raised to new heights.

During his tenure as Vice President andPresident of India, the political scenario wasovershadowed with numerous global crises likethe Korean war, Indo-China political conflict,Indo-Pak hostilities and the cold war split betweenEast and West. In such a grave situation of political



instability, Radhakrishnan wonderfully managedto bring his philosophical and political beliefs intomotion. He resented over the divisive ability anddominant character of what he witnessed as ‘theself-proclaimed’ international organization like theLeague of Nations. Realizing the growing needfor world peace and universal fellowship, headvocated for the promotion of an innovativeInternationalism based on integral experiences ofmetaphysical foundations and political ideology.Through such a vision, he emphasized, ‘mutualunderstanding and tolerance can be effectivelyencouraged between cultures and nations.

The demise of Dr. SarvepalliRadhakrishnan on 17th April 1975 was anirreparable loss for our country. From a humbleorigin to the apogee of political power and position,the journey was undoubtedly incredible andamazing. But history is replete with instances ofmany people attaining stride of success as acolossus. This is exactly what has happened toDr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in his life. The spanof his life covering a period of about 87 yearswas quite eventful in many ways. His significantand influential role in the domain of academics,politics and philosophy has earned him ‘a placeof all time remembrance’ by his dear countrymen.

References :

1. “A Teacher’s Day: Ten things to know about India’sPhilosopher President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan”.Hindustan Times, 5th Sept. 2017. Available at : https:// w w w . g o o g l e . c o m / a m p / s /www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/happy-teachers-day-10-things-to-know-about-india-s-s-

philosopher-president-sarvepalli-radhakrishnan/story-dDTInmWZtlf08olllhX99N_amp.html.

2. “Philosopher, teacher, president: RememberingDr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan”. The Economic Times.5 th Sept. 2018. Available at: https://m.economictimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/philosopher-teacher-president-remembering-dr-s-radhak r i shnan/t r ibu te-to -d r - sa rvepa l l i -radhakrishnan/slideshow/65682818.cms.

3. Subramanian, Archana “On Teacher’s Day:Remembering an Educator of the Students”. TheHindu, 2nd Sept. Available at: https://www.thehindu.com/children/remembering-an-educator/article19609361.ece

4. Sudarshan Agarwal (ed.). “Dr. SarvepalliRadhakrishnan: A commemorative Volume, 1888-1988”.

5. Banarjee Anjan Kumar, “Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan,A centenary tribute”.

6. Adinarayana P. “Educational Thoughts ofDr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan”. IJARIIE. 2016. Vol-2Issue-3.

7. Bala, R. & Seth, V “Educational Implications ofPhilosophy of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in thePresent Context”. Scholarly Research Journal ofInterdisciplinary Studies. Vol-3 Issue-22.

8. Recovery of Faith - Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan1956.

9. Indian Religious Thought - Dr. SarvepalliRadhakrishnan, 2016 Orient paper backs.

Dr. Bidya Bhusan Mohanty, Ex-Principal (H.S.), CuttackCollege, Nayabazaar, Cuttack, E-mail :[email protected].



Pigeon pea, Cajanus cajan (L.), is the secondimportant pulse crop in India. Arhar (Pigeon Pea)/ Toor dal is a perennial legume that belongs tothe Fabaceae family, which is also known aspigeon pea or split pigeon pea, arhar dal or redgram dal. It Helps in Maintaining Blood Pressure.Arhar dal is rich in potassium content; potassiumis known to act as a vasodilator, which assists inreducing blood pressure and blood constriction.May Promote Weight Loss. Boosts DigestiveHealth. Toor dal is widely grown in tropical andsemitropical regions across the world, Indiaaccounts for 72% of major production of pigeonpea i.e. with production of 3.68 million tonnesfrom an area of 4.42 million hectares withproductivity of 832 (kg/ha) (AICRP on Pigeonpea, Annual report -2018-19), from an area of4.42 Million ha. It is a drought-resistant plantand can be cultivated in regions with minimalrainfall. Toor dal is cultivated solely as a crop ormerged with cereals such as sorghum, pearl milletor maize or with other legumes such as peanuts.Pigeon pea is capable of symbiosis with Rhizobia,the bacteria linked with toor dal nurtures soilsthrough symbiotic nitrogen fixation.

This arhar crop is cultivated by the Indian

farmers taking popular Arhar varieties i.e BRG-

5, GJP-1, BRG-17, Phuletu-12 and Pusa Arhar-

16, Pusa 991 and Pusa 992 with a spacing of

60x20 and 90x30cm for early and medium

duration varieties respectively with a fertilizer dose

of 20:40:20NPK kg /ha with a spray of NPK

19:19:19 @1.0% and Boron ( Di Sodium Octa

borate Tetra hydrate) @2.0% at flower bud

ignition stage. But in Odisha condition improved

arhar varieties like BRG-5, GJP-1, BRG-17 and

old roll model varieties like Asha, Laxmi and

Parbati still gives good yield i.e 14-15Q/ha with

an expenditure of 35,000-37,000/ha.

Although good number of varieties are

available with sound management practices still

production of Arhar is declining like anything due

to major pest and disease attack. The major

constraint in the production of pigeon pea is the

damage caused by diseases and insect pests

attack with preventable losses up to 60-78%. So

a scientific write up is given next page for smooth

management of major pest and disease to get a

sustainable yield for the farmers of Odisha.

Management of Major Diseases andInsect Pest Complex in Arhar

Dr. N. Ranasingh

Dr. U.K. Behera



died.



Management of insect pest complex in Arhar

The crop is attacked by more than 250insect pests but the damage caused by pod borercomplex viz., Helicoverpa armigera,Melanagromyza obtusa, Maruca vitrataandEtiella zinckenelia and pod sucking bug

Clavigralla gibbosa results in major reductionto grain yield. Insects feed on all parts of the pigeonpea plant. The most serious pests, and the primaryfocus of pigeon pea pest management research,are those that attack reproductive structures,including buds, flowers, and pods.



The key pests of pigeon pea can begrouped into three categories: flower- andpod-feeding Lepidoptera, pod-sucking Hemiptera,and seed-feeding Diptera and Hymenoptera.

1. Helicoverpa armigera

Among the lepidopteran pod borers,Helicoverpa armigera is the most dreaded andpolyphagous pest of pigeon pea worldwide. It isone of the predominant species in the pod borercomplex causing damage to both flowers andpods. Moths prefer to oviposit on plants in thereproductive growth stage and are attracted toflowering crops. More than 80% of eggs are laidon calyxes and pods. The larvae enter its headand part of the body into the pod and feed on theseeds. A single larva can damage several podsduring its life time.

2. Maruca vitrata

The spotted pod borer, Maruca vitratais serious pest causing extensive damage to floralbuds, flowers and pods. They webbed togetherthe flowers, buds, pods and leaves and fed fromwithin. They also damaged the seeds by boringinto the pods. This concealed feeding complicatescontrol as pesticides and natural enemies havedifficulty penetrating the shelter to reach thelarvae.

3. Melanagromyza obtusa

The pod fly, Melanagromyza obtusaoviposits in the tender pods. The maggots feedon the seeds and pupate inside the pods. It is oneof the most serious pests of pigeon pea in manyparts of the country causing the grain damageranging from 10 to 80 per cent. Blister beetle(Mylabris pustulata) reported to be the serious

pest of pigeon pea. It infests by feeding the flowersand developing pods cause reduction in yield.

4. Clavigralla gibbosa

Both adults and nymphs of pod-suckingHemipteran bug Clavigralla gibbosa feed onpigeon pea by piercing the pod wall and extractingnutrients from the developing seeds. Damagedseeds are dark and shriveled, and they are difficultto distinguish from those damaged by drought.Damaged seeds do not germinate and are losemarketability.

5. Etiella zinckenella

The Spiny Lepidopteran pod borer,Etiella zinckenella larva bores within the greenpods and feeds on seeds. The newly emergedlarvae feed on floral parts and causing many ofthem to drop. The pod formation gets reduced.Fecal pellets are seen inside the damaged pods.

Pigeonpea pest management iscomplicated by several factors because the cropis attacked by different pest groups with differentbiologies. However, improved cultivationpractices along with location specific IntegratedInsect Pest Management approach could enhancethe productivity as well as yield. Impact of theclimate changes viz., changes in temperature andrainfall pattern may affect the components ofInsect Pest Management. Another impediment inpigeonpea pest management is that pigeonpea hasbeen considered a marginal crop and beingneglected in a mixed cropping system and hence,given less attention by farmers. Properimplementation of IPM strategies in larger areasand timely intervention of different tactics are quiteessential for the effective management of majorinsect pests to enhance the productivity.



Integrated Pest Management in Arhar

A. Cultural methods

1. Follow deep summer ploughing at everyalternate season to destroy soil inhibitingeggs, larvae and pupae of various pests.

2. Major insect pest population of arhar canalso be suppressed to some extent byeradication of alternate weed host byfollowing clean cultivation.

3. Early sowing crop and increased seedrate can escape the first two broods of

stem fly as well as compensate thedamage due to stem fly.

4. Physically collect and destroy egg massesand pupae.

5. Use of short duration varieties escapesfrom the attack of pod borer.

B. Mechanical methods

1. Set up light trap to monitor, attract andkill the pod borer moths.

2. The population of pod borer can beregulated by installing pheromone traps.



3. Set up pheromone traps with helilure @20 nos./ha to reduce gram pod borer,Helicoverpa armigera incidence.

4. In cases of heavy infestation of podborers, physical shaking of pigeon peaplants to dislodge larvae and collect anddestroy manually.

5. Bird perches @ 20-30 nos. per haplaced just above the crop canopy willalso help to reduce the population of thepest.

C. Biocontrol methods

1. Early instar larvae and early seasonsucking pests can be managed to belowthe threshold level by applying 5 %NSKE.

2. Release egg parasite Trichogrammasppand egg larval parasite Chelonusblackburni for the control of H.armigera @ 1.5 lakh per hectare atfortnightly 4-6 times at the initiation of podborer infestation monitored throughpheromone trap.

3. Conserve natural enemies likeMicrobraconsp, Cotesiasp, Braconhebetor and Apantelessp. parasitizes thecaterpillar pests.

4. Apply NPV @ 500 LE/ha to control H.armigera.

D. Chemical methods

1. For management of pod borer complexduring the time of flowering spray neembio-Insecticide (1500ppm) @ 1.5 literper hectare.

2. Conventional insecticides likeChlorpyriphos 20 EC (1000 ml/ ha),Profenophos 50EC (1000 ml/ ha),Thiodicarb 75 WP (750 g/ha) to besprayed when the pest populationreaches the threshold limit.

3. The novel Insecticides like spinosad 45SC (200 ml/ha), Indoxacarb 14.5SC(500 ml/h a), Emamectine benzoate5 SG(250 g/ ha), Flubendiamide 39.35SC (250 g/ ha) etc should be usedalternatively at 50 % flowering stage.

Insect growth regulator viz., Diflubenzuron25 WP (250g/ ha), Novaluron 10 EC(375 g/ha) can also be recommended tospray.

Dr. N.Ranasingh, Assoc. Professor (Plant Pathology),College of Agriculture, OUAT, Bhawanipatna,Kalahandi.

Dr. U.K.Behera, Asst. Professor ( Entomology), Collegeof Agriculture, OUAT, Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi.

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