A Trip To Manitri Kakharua Baidyanath Temple - ODISHA Tales

Last Summer We went for the expedition of Manitri Kakharua Baidyanath Temple which has its route in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha.

This temple carries significance as it is dedicated to both Lord Jagannath and Lord Siva. Here, Lord Shiva is worshipped in the name of Kakharua Baidyanath Temple as it is being said that the construction of the temple was started by Maharaj Kakharuadev and completed during Baidyanath Maharaj or as the JyotirLinga was retrieved from Pumpkin Garden, the name of the temple fell so.

Earlier it was supposed to be dedicated to Lord Jagannath as prescribed in its long and mythical history. The temple is surrounded by high brick walls to give the temple a safe hand. It was built in 1400 AD during the reign of Maharaja Kakharua Deb of the Gajapati Dynasty. The then Maharaja after retrieving the Jyotir Linga from a pumpkin garden, he set up Shiva and Parvati temple at the initial stage.

But after 150 years, the temple came under the reign of Maharaja Baidyanath Bhanja of the Bhanja dynasty who was a great disciple of Shri Chaitanya. Under his reign, he built the Jagannath temple adjacent to the Shiva & Parvati Temple. There is also a Hanuman Temple inside the premise of Manitri Temple so has a tiny Sun temple, Maa Tarini and Lokanath Mahadev, and Mulaknath Mahadev.

Inside the Natya Mandap, there is a Garuda Sthambha which is facing Lord Jagannath, and adjacent to this you will find Lord Shiva being worshipped there.

According to the mythological perspective, the Brusava of Lord Shiva is facing towards its right, as it is believed during the Bishuva Sankranti, the early ray of sun falls directly on the Jyotirlinga of Lord Baidyanath. We got to see so many pumpkins being placed inside the temple premises which itself says about the significance of the temple. The Temple also observes the annual Car Festival (Ratha Jatra) similar to the Puri Ratha Jatra.

We were really amazed to know about the long-prevailing histories of this temple and its greater significance to the nearby people. Hope our travel experience will help you to get a fair bit of ideas about the temple.

ASHISH PANDA

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