Devdeveshwar Temple

Overview

Outside Rajarani Temple are sculpted figures of the guardians of the 8 cardinal and ordinal directions. Jain antiques, weaponry and indigenous pattachitra paintings fill the Odisha State Museum.

About The Temple

The entrance of the main temple of Shree Devdeshwar is majestic. On the two sides of the entrance are the two Bhairavas--the demi-gods to represent the door attendants. They are made of blackstone and have been installed here recently in 1981. The entrance door is made of granite stone and is almost as big as one room. Sadar is the entrance part of a mansion; a receiving counter where an idol of Ganesh is kept. When this temple was inaugurated and the first pooja was performed, the Peshwas brought this beautiful idol of Ganesh from Jaipur. The main temple was constructed in 1749. It was built with blackstone (known as deccan trap stone) in mortar.

About The Deity

The main deity, the Linga of Shiva is kept south-north, facing the east. The Linga is oval-shaped, six inches in diameter, red-black in colour with very thin wire-like lines on it. The upper part of the Linga has a reddish spot, resembling a topi (cap) put on it.This red spot which is considered to be extremely rare gives it sacred importance. This stone is believed to have been brought from the river Gandaki, a tributory, which flows in Nepal. Such sacred stones are believed to be found only in Gandaki river. The Linga is fixed in brass seat of an unusual shape and cannot be easily removed. The wall behind the Shiva Linga houses the idol of Shiva, with his spouse Parvati on one lap and his young son Ganesh on the other. The idols which are made of copper and brass, sit on a specially carved wooden seat.

The idol of Lord Shiva is about one and half feet tall. He is shown sitting in Padmasana i.e. lotus position, his feet clearly shown over calves. He has four arms in which he holds (clockwise) an arrow, an axe, a bow and a trident (Trishula). The serenity on the Lord's face is clearly visible. The workmanship of Parvati and Ganpati idols is flawless with every minute detail been taken into account.

Legends and Stories

The silver and gold idols of Shiva, Parvati and Ganesha were a matter of great pride and prestige to the residents of Pune city. These idols were part of Peshwa's personal jewellery and in times of emergency, they were shifted from Parvati Hill to Sinhagad Fort for safe custody. When Nizam's troops invaded Pune, they were kept at Sinhagad. During the reign of Savai Madhav Rao, the sixth Peshwa in line, the English troops advancing against the Marathas had reached Talegaon. The entire city of Pune was under the threat of war. Many people fled with their jewellery and valuables. In 1817, when the Peshwa Bajirao II decided to stand firm against the British power, he sent his jewellery and these idols with one Pandurang Krishna Bapat, a very trusted servant, to Sinhagad.

Idols siezed by the British

On 2nd March, 1818, the British forces conquered fort Sinhagad and took the fort and the entire wealth of the Peshwas into their possession. These idols of gold and silver were also taken into the custody by the British army. However, when peace was restored, these idols and the silver cover (Kavacha) of the Sacred Bull were duly returned to be displayed in the Parvati temple. This gesture on the part of the British government was only to show their impartial and fair governance; an act which must have been highly appreciated by the people then.

Accessibility

Bhubaneshwar is well linked by air to Delhi, Chennai, Varanasi, Nagpur, Calcutta, and Vishakhapatnam on daily basis flights by Indian Airlines. The Biju Patnaik Airport at Bhubaneswar provides daily connections to Kolkata and Delhi. Superfast trains connect Bhubaneswar to major cities of India. A major railhead on the East Coast (E Co) Railway, it has fast and super fast train links to Kolkata, Guwahati, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and other important centers of the country as well as within the state. Bhubaneswar is well linked to the rest of India by the national highways. The New Bus Stand in Bhubaneswar is on NH5, at Baramunda, about 6 km from town center.

Temple Address