Orissa Trip Day 1 – Lingaraj Temple
TweetThe readers of this blog know, that we plan our annual vacations meticulously. We choose a different country every year and we start planning 6 months ahead. This year we chose Thailand – Bangkok and surrounding areas to be precise. But it was not to be. The Chao Praya river started flooding Bangkok and Ayutthaya. Even after the flood waters receded we heard that Bangkok had mounds of garbage on the streets & Ayutthaya remained closed to visitors.
“Why not choose a place in India, particularly, a state that we don’t know much about, a state with rich cultural heritage, we thought”.
We zeroed in on Orissa, the Land of the Kalingas, and the birthplace of the Odissi Dance.
The day we landed, we decided to visit the Lingaraj temple, the most famous temple in Bhubaneshwar [http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingaraja_Temple]. It was built by the King Yayati Keshari (Keshari Dynasty) in the 11th century AD and is an excellent example of the Kalinga style of architecture. It was originally intended to be a Shaivite shrine but since the Vaishnavite sect was becoming stronger in Puri, it was converted into a Hari Hara (Shiva – Vishnu) temple. They perform both Shaivite & Vaishnavite rituals every day. For example, they do Anna prasad for Vishnu & Abhishekam for Shiva, Vilva leaves for Shiva & Tulsi leaves for Vishnu… Incidentally, the Abhishekam is done with milk, water, honey, – and Bhang 🙂
Many people had warned us about the Pandas (brahmin priest) beforehand. Little did we know that the Pandas rule the temple. There’s no use trying to sneak the guides in, for the Pandas will never let them in.
This would be okay if the Pandas had knowledge about the architecture, history etc. But that’s not the case.
All they know are the rituals around the temple and the superstitions involved, such as, hugging the sthamb (column) in the main courtyard will cure you of gastric trouble.
So, unless you are a devoutly religious person, give the Lingaraj temple, the skip. There are other more beautiful temples in Bhubaneshwar without the din & chaos of Lingaraj. More on that in later posts.
I used to think that the Parthasarathy temple in Chennai was unclean. But where garbage & stench are concerned Lingaraj is really the Raj. Why the pious would keep a 1,000 year old temple in such squalid conditions is beyond our imagination. Shame on the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India).
In all old Hindu temples, the sanctum santorum has a “special” smell – the smell of vibhuti (sacred ash), rancid oil, milk, burning camphor etc. But the stench in the holiest of holies in the Lingaraj was literally gut wrenching. Our 4 year old daughter squeaked “mom, I have to vomit”. It looked like we were the only people having a problem with the stench.
There are 108 small temples in the Lingaraj temple complex. Most of them had no Hundi, and people had dropped their coins & notes on to a cloth spread in front of the temple door.
Another interesting observation is the garb of the priest. In the South, priests mostly wear white or off white dhoties. In the Lingaraj temple, most of the priests wore pink or pink & white checked dhoties. Our guide said that the priests wear different colors based on the deity they manage – white for Shiva, saffron or yellow for Vishnu, and red or pink for Mother Goddess.
From a symbology perspective, on top of the tower above the sanctum sanctorum, Shiva temples have the Trident, Vishnu temples have the Chakra. Lingaraj is a Hari Hara temple and hence the top of the tower is adorned by Lord Rama’s Bow. In the sanctum sanctorum, the usual base of the Lingam is present, but the actual Lingam has been replaced by a shapeless rock symbolizing Vishnu. The priest said it is a Shaligram, but it didn’t look anything like one. Instead it looked like the vertical (phallic) part of the Lingam had been smashed and the remnants are now worshipped as Shaligram.
In the exterior of the main tower, we could see several erotic sculptures. Perhaps the substratum influence of the old fertility religion. Unfortunately, no photos allowed. The guards frisked us to make sure we couldn’t take even our cellphones inside.
Later on in the tour, we managed to take a picture from a viewing platform built for non-Hindus who are not allowed inside. The view was magnificent. We’ll share it alongside the photo essay later on.
– jointly written by Sukumar & Priya
Welcome to see a post written with personal observation and view point.Used to read the posts when it was not about retweeted links.
Thanks Arun. I’m not able to write detailed posts much these days. I reserve them for my company’s internal blog where I get much better engagement from commenters. I’m posting the retweeted links for my benefit also – to track the best links I read. Many people find those compilations useful which is why I blog them. Sorry if you don’t like them.
i remember visiting the temple.. to be frank i feel the temples in North are not maintained at all…apart from the religious part, the architecture and history are there in abundance but as its not maintained you don’t feel the charm when you visit them.
Thanks Sukumar and Priya. good to see a blog after a long time. The blog will certainly be of great help and reference to those planning to visit Orissa and such concrete field level information is indeed rare to get from books.
Sukumar,
/** Many people had warned us about the Pandas (brahmin priest) beforehand. Little did we know that the Pandas rule the temple. There’s no use trying to sneak the guides in, for the Pandas will never let them in.
**/
A temple is an abode of god, and NOT a tourist place, as being promoted by government. the pandas are right in what they did..
/** I used to think that the Parthasarathy temple in Chennai was unclean. But where garbage & stench are concerned Lingaraj is really the Raj. Why the pious would keep a 1,000 year old temple in such squalid conditions is beyond our imagination. Shame on the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India).
**/
ASI dont care about these shames.. the educated people, should take up the issue, through RTI.. if this could not be done, then there is no point in accusing ASI..
/** It was originally intended to be a Shaivite shrine but since the Vaishnavite sect was becoming stronger in Puri, it was converted into a Hari Hara (Shiva – Vishnu) temple.
**/
Actually, smarthas, shaivas and vaishnavas worship both shiva and vishnu.. smarthas treat all gods equally.. shaivas, give preference to shiva, but they also worship vishnu.. like wise, vaishnavas give importance to vishnu, but they also worship shiva.. so it will always be a hari-hara, temple, except for some extreme groups like sri-vaishnava or veera saiva (lingayat)..
Soundarya,
Thanks. Not sure we can say “all” north indian temples are unclean. It appears that heavily trafficked ones like Lingaraj are unclean. Right in Bhubaneshwar, we went to the mukteswar, parasurameswar, bhaskareswar, vaital mandir etc which were quite clean and well maintained.
Thanks Kavitha. Glad you liked the post.
Sukumar & Priya
Very nice post. Odisha is one the places I wanted to visit.
Too bad that the temples and their rich cultural history cannot be explained to those visiting from outside places.
Thanks Vamsi. There were other temples we visited where guides were allowed. They were all very well-maintained. We’ll cover them in later posts.
Good to read this..Will wait to hear how your Puri Konark temple visit went..I went as a child and i distinctly remember the detailed sculpture and the chariot wheels.
I agree with you on the maintainence of the temples. One of my favorite temples in chennai is the Jagannath temple on ECR, It is well maintained , green and serene. One can really sit in peace .
Veena
Thanks Veena. I haven’t been to Jagannath temple on ECR. This is the first I’ve heard about it. Will check it out.