|
|
Balangir
Indralath
Temple, Ranipur-JharialGreen
forests where wildlife roams free, Balangir, or the Ramayana's South
Kosala, has been the venue for numerous cultural cross-currents, from
whence rose tales of Sahajayana of Laxmikara and the Seven Maidens who
indulged in esoteric rites. Lending a gem-like quality of enchantment and
mystery to these exotic elements, are the Gandhamardan hill with their
turbulent waterfalls and the extravagant vistas of the Mahanadi river. The
drive from Sambalpur (141 km) is a visual feast.
Places
to visit
Harishankar
The
foaming waters sparkle vibrantly, acting as a delightful contrast to the
unmelting hardness of the granite bed from which it cascades through the
sun-dappled jungle. Echoing its joyful song, birds and bathers thronging
the pool created by the swirling waters seem to give thanks to Hari and
Shankar, the reigning deities of Harishankar Temple perched on the
southern slope of Gandhamardan hills, the hill side is famed for
medicinal plants. It is about 81 km from Balangir.
Sonepur
Set
astride the confluence of the Mahanadi and Tel rivers, Sonepur, 48 km
from Balangir, is an antique land with the recovery of ancient gold
coins from different parts of the town underscoring its antiquity.
Amongst the numerous temples breaking the town's skyline, the shrine of
Suvarnameru Lingam holds precedence over all. The Nrusinghanath temple
is the highest among them, which is 24.38 meters high. Sonepur is also
called `The City of Gold'. Another temple of interest for visitors is
the doorless temple of Gnyanadei Maluni, with slightly Tantric overtones
which indicates that Tantrism flourished in this region for sometime.
There are numerous villages around Sonepur where scores of weavers work
on no less than 23,000 looms to produce exquisite textiles.
Ranipur
Jharial
Located
in the verdant environs of the Titilagarh sub-division in Balangir
district, the twin villages of Ranipur Jharial bear strong traces of
their ancient heritage. This is primarily evident in the numerous
ancient temples discovered by visiting pilgrims to `Somatirtha' (as they
called this region). Saivism, Vaisnavism, Buddhism and Tantrism
obviously enjoyed a great deal of influence in the region. Situated on
the rocky outcrops of this region are a number of temples that are of
great interest to tourists. Located here is the hypaethral temple of the
64 yoginis. It is one of the four famous Yogini temples in India. The
other three are located at Hirapur (near Bhubaneswar), Khajuraho and
Bheraghat (near Jabalpur). The finest specimen of a brick temple is the
20 meters high Indralath temple. It is one of the -tallest brick temples
of ancient India
Top
|
|
