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Biraja Temple

Viraja Temple in Tantra

Virajaa devi

The Brahmayamala Tantra has a hymn "Aadya Stotra" dedicated to Goddess Shakti. In that hymn, it is stated that Vimala is the shakti in Purusottama Kshetra and Viraja is the shakti worshipped inOdra Desha, which is latter known as Odisha.

It is believed that sati's navel also fell here as Tantra Chudamani says that the navel fell in Utkalawhich is called Viraja kshetra.Adi Shankara in his Ashtadasha shakti peetha stuti describes this peetha as Oddiyana Peetha and the goddess as Girija.Here is the verse from his Ashtadasha shakti peetham. [1]

As per many Tantra books, the Oddiyana Peetha is located in eastern India near Vaitarani river. The place signifies its name. Oddiyana is an ornament worn by women around navel, as the navel fell down here the area surrounding the peetha is called Oddyana Peetha, and the land is known as Odra Desha.

Rituals and Festivals

Main ritual in this temple is Sharadiya Durga Puja which starts from Krishna Paksha Ashtami night which falls before Mahalaya and ends on Ashwin Shukla Paksha Navami. The total Puja continues for 16 days, which is called Shodasha dinatatmika Puja. The Rath Yatra of Devi's utsava murty is done during Mahashtami and Mahanavami. The Ratha(Chariot Festival) is named as Simhadhwaja (having the flag symbol of Lion). During the transition of lunar phase from Shukla Ashtami to Shukla Navami the special animal Sacrifice is performed which is called Bali Daanam. The day of Dussehra is celebrated as Aparajita Puja. Other festivals include Devi's own Nakshatra, Shravana which falls on Amavasya of Purnimanta month of Maagha, Prathamastami, Pana Sankranti, Raja Parva and Navanna.

The daily worship to devi is done as depicted in Tantra and Agama. She is worshipped as Mahishasuramardini by Brahmins of Jajpur.

Nabhi Gaya

It is heard from Puranas that Gaya is having mouth of Gayasura (Shirogaya) & the navel is in Jajpur inside Biraja Temple. Whereas padagaya (legs of gayasura) is in Pithapuram of Andhra Pradesh. God Brahma did 10 Ashwamedha yajna here on the bank of Baitarani Or Vaitarani. It is called as Dakshina(south) Vedi of Brahma. Others being Gaya(east); Kurukshetra, (north);Pushkar, (west) & Prayag Allahbad, (centre) according to Vamana Purana. Many pilgrims gather here for Shraaddha during Mahalaya. A Holy dip commenses in Vaitarani river on the day ofChaitra krishna chaturdasi called as Varuni Snan Yoga. It becomes auspicious if the day is saturday and the star is Shatabhisha. The nearest rail head is Byasanagar or jajpur keonjhar road on chennai-howrah railway.

Temple of Ichai Ghosh,Deul,West Bengal

Virupaksha Temple(pattadakal,karnataka)

This temple, in worship, known as 'Shri Lokeswara-Maha-Sila-prasada' from the epigraphs, was built by Lokamahadevi, the Queen of Vikaramaditya II (A.D.733-745) in about A.D.740 to commemorate her husband's victory over the Pallavas of Kanchipuram. It closely resembles the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram on plan and elevation and represents a fully developed and perfected stage of the Dravidian architecture.

Facing east, this temple has on plan a square sanctum (garbhagriha) with a circumambulatory path (pradakshinapatha), an antarala with two small shrines for Ganesa and Mahishamardini facing each other infront, a sabha-mandapa with entrance porches on the east, north and south and a separate Nandi-mandapa in front. The complex is enclosed by high prakara walls. Against the inner faces of these walls there were small shrines (originally 32) dedicated to the subsidiary deities (parivaradevatas) of which only a few are extant now. The enclosure has been provided with ornate entrance gates ((pratolis) on both east and west.

The temple is built on a high plinth of five fully evolved mouldings. The outer faces of the walls of the sanctum are divided into a central projection, two intermediate projections and two corner projections with four recesses in between. Likewise, the mandapa walls on either side of the northern, eastern and southern proches are divided into two projections and two recesses. All these projections of the sanctum walls carry niches housing images of Saiva and Vaishnava deities like Bhairava, Narasimha, Hari-Hara, Lakulisa etc., while there are perforated windows of various design in the rest of the recesses. The parapet consists of architectural elements calledkutas (square), panjaras (miniature apsidal shrines) and salas (oblong) corresponding to the projections below and the linking courses (harantaras) above the recesses. The superstructure over the sanctum is a Dravida-vimana in three storeys with a sukasana projection over theantarala. It is square in plan and repeats in its elevation many elements of the parapet and walls beneath. It has a beautifully shaped square roof (shikhara) with a round finial kalasa above.

The whole of the interior of this temple is embellished with elegant carvings and aesthetically modeled sculptures. Episodes from the Ramayana (e.g. abduction of Sita) Mahabharata (e.g. Bhishma lying in a bed of arrows), Bhagavata (e.g. Krishna lifting the Govardhan mountain) andKiratarjuniya (e.g. Arjuna receiving the Pasupatastra from Siva) are depicted on the pillars of thesabha- mandapa and the pilasters here have the sculptures of amorous couples and Rati and Manmatha. Flora, fauna and geometrical patterns adorn various parts of the temple. Doorjambs (dwara-shakhas) with their delicate carvings, pillars and pilasters with various types of capitals and carvings on their faces, lintels relieved with animals, birds and architectural motifs, ceilings depicting divine beings and the majestically standing dwarapalas all unfold a ricj world of plastic art before the connoisseurs and attest to the heights reached by the Chalukyan sculptures.

The Nandi-mandapa situated to the east of the temple, is a square pavilion open on all the four sides. It houses a large image of Nandi on a raised floor. Its flat roof is supported by four pillars and short lengths of walls whose outer surfaces are carved with attendant figutes and Kinnara-mithunas (couples)

There are a number of inscriptions big and small, engraved in different parts of this temple. Inscriptions in the porch of the eastern gateway record the victory of Vikramaditya II over Kanchipuram and the royal honour and the title of 'Tribhuvanachari' conferred on Anivaritachari Gunda, the architect of the temple and the extol the virtues of Sarvasiddhi Achari, the architect of the southern portion of the temple.

Yogini temple of Hirapur

ORISSA-KALINGA OR Utkala of ancient times-is an experience that is as sublime as it is aesthetically innervating. In its very isolation, Orissa has preserved some of the most important aspects of India's own cultural heritage. It is for this reason that the State has so much to offer the curious traveller who seeks to unfold new mysteries.

The temple culture is the most predominant feature that strikes the visitor who enters Orissa. There are temples not much celebrated for their ornamental sculpture and structural beauty but are known for their dynamically forceful religious architecture and powerful nuances. One of them is the 64 yoginis' temple at Hirapur. On the suburbs of Orissa, 20 km south-east of the city, in the middle of paddy fields lies this ninth century temple. Another significant feature of this shrine is that it is hypaethral (no roof). It assumes an important place in the cultural history since it is the second of its kind in Orissa and one of such four temples in India. (Two of them are in Orissa and the other two are in Madhya Pradesh). It belongs to a genre of architecture which is completely different from the major Odissi school. Yogini shrines can be seen at Hirapur (near Bhubaneswar) and at Ranipur-Jharial (western Orissa).

The early medieval period saw the development of the cult of yoginis which was of course, based on the Sakta principle. Though this cult has cryptic origin, it has a long history of its own with distribution all over India except the South. Experts and scholars from different walks of life propounded many theories in support of their origin and expansion but failed to come to a definite conclusion. The reason may be the non-availability of authentic texts and cessation of occult practices.

Yogini, 64 in number, in their niches on a circular wall.

Vedic texts also speak about some individual yoginis but never register the coalescence of 64 yoginis together as a cult. The yogini cult is said to have developed in the 6th/7th A.D. The temple at Hirapur was discovered by the late K. N. Mahapatra, eminent historian and archaeologist of Orissa. The temple has 64 niches one for each image of the yogini. Now who are these yoginis? In the absence of text books on the subject one has to rely on the puranas. Markandeya Purana gives an interesting account of the origin of the great goddess and Yoginis as Matrkas. They were asked to assist Durga in her war against Raktabija a demon king who would multiply from each drop of his blood shed on the ground. Such was the dreadful boon he had managed to get. The yoginis, directed by Durga, drank all the drops of blood before they could touch the ground and the demon was killed. The Mahabhagavata purana records that Mahadeva delineates the residence of Kali as a vast city with a wall having four gates facing the four directions. Seated in the middle on a lion-throne is the Goddess, attended by 64 yoginis and Bhairavas who are entrusted with the protection of the city.

But most exciting is the account presented in Matsya purana. Andhaka, an asura, was terrorising the whole universe. Once he attacked Kailasa in an attempt to capture Umadevi. Siva countered with his Pasupata Astra. But due to a boon (a la Raktabija) innumberable demons of sprang up from the blood pouring from his wounds. Siva created several divine mothers who drank all the blood and the demon was destroyed. But this led to a new problem. The mothers went on rampage and Siva sought the help of Narasimha, who created 32 mothers, more formidable.

Unable to withstand their power the forms created by Siva went to Narasimha who advised them to nurture and guard the universe. They should assist Parasakthi in her divine work.

The cult of 64 yoginis as well as its occult and secret practices and philosophy are methodised by Matsyendranath (8th to 10th century AD) in his magnum opus, Kaulajnananimaya. He is associated with religious movements of medieval India and is revered in neighbouring countries like Nepal and Tibet. Even in Kashmir he is worshipped as Saiva Acharya.

The number of yoginis differ from one source to another but 64 appears to have been generally accepted. The principal yoginis, also known as Mother-Goddesses, are Brahmani, Mahesvari, Vaishnavi, Kaumari, Varahi, Indrani and Chamunda who according to the myths were created to the drink blood of demons.. It is presumptive that these mother-goddesses who are evidently the Yoginis were multiplied into sixty-four.

A circular wall, hardly 2 metres in height, containing 64 niches within its inner circumference encompass this hypaethral yogini shrine. All except one of these contain an image of a yogini goddess. Some of them are delineated with voluptuous bodies, some with horrific shrunken features, still others with animal heads.

Active between 9th and 13th centuries, yoginis were worshipped in expectation of the direct acquisition of supernatural powers. Worship seems to have centred on the repetition of the names of the goddesses. Later, when active use of the shrines ceased, worshippers transferred their devotions to mystical paper diagrams.

A circular enclosure open to the sky is also the distinctive shape of the shrines dedicated to the yoginis. V.W. Karambelkar, points out that the circular shape and absence of roof of Yogini temples find a justification in some ancient legends about the yoginis themselves. It is stated that these deities use to roam about in a group in the air and when they descend, always settled in a circle.

The circular yogini temple can be considered to be an iconic representation of Siva and Sakti, the former being placed at the centre in the role as axis mundi , the latter having multiplied into 64 female deities surrounding Siva in a circle as per the mandala-chakra-yantra tradition.

This peculiar kind of temple architecture developed in the central and eastern parts of India between the 8th and 12th centuries AD. This style of architecture finds no mention in silpa-sastras as they were kept secret by the sectarian practitioners of the cult.