Saturday, November 15, 2008

Chausath Yogini Temple: Hirapur

Frontal view of the temple

I redeemed myself off from the ignominy of having been an unworthy ignorant Odiya all these years. Being born and bred in a diverse and culturally vibrant state, I possessed little knowledge of what my state had to offer. I meandered all through my growing up years blankly. But today, after all these years, the subdued spirit has ignited and wants to learn more about its rich homestate Orissa. And thus started my journey . Because its never too late. And I started with 64 Yogini Temple, Hirapur.
The archedway displaying the 64 yogini statuettes

The 64 yogini temple at Hirapur, which is just 15 kms from Bhubaneswar, hides within itself deep mysteries and untold legends. Its uniqueness can be gauged by the fact that it is only second of its kind in Orissa and one of four such temples in the world. The temple is hypaethral, that means it is roofless. And the circular archway dons 64 statuettes of yoginis.
One such Yogini statuette
Legend has it that a demon king Raktabija had a boon that for each drop of his blood spilled on the ground, he would multiply his form. When his existence became intolerable, Goddess Durga waged a war against him. Durga took the help of the yoginis and directed them to drink all the drops of blood before it could touch the ground. Thus the demon was killed.

The village Hirapur though being so close to the city has its rustic charm surrounded by open swathes of paddy fields and a small pond in front of the temple.
You have to cross this Kuakhai river bridge to reach Hirapur.

For more information on 64 yogini temple, read the, HINDU article which featured a story on this little known temple.

26 comments:

Debasish Patra said...

Not surprisingly.. I too dint hav any idea bout 64-Yogini mandir.

Its intersting,splly the 'roofless' part.

indicaspecies said...

Enjoy Orissa and do share it all with us.

I am amazed to learn about this Temple in Hirapur since I have seen a similar roofless temple called Chausat Yogini Temple in Bedhaghat near Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.

Isn't it lovely that our blogworld gives us opportunities to share information and our experiences? Thank you for this very interesting post Ravi.:)

Mridula said...

Looks like my kind of place!

Vamsee Modugula said...

Very interesting story. Good to know about these hidden jewels of India

Ravi Kumar said...

@debashish: Its never too late :) Be proud of Orissa

Ravi Kumar said...

@indica: Yes the Jabalpur temple is another one. do u have a post on that?

Ravi Kumar said...

@Mridula: Do make it a point to visit once u r here in Orissa.

Ravi Kumar said...

@vamsee: Thanks for visiting

ബൈജു (Baiju) said...

Thanks Ravi. I have heard about this myth. Thanks a lot for the nice post and the snaps!

Go on dear wayfarer.

indicaspecies said...

Ravi,

In my case it's been like: travelled more, written less. I started blogging just last year yaar.

My last post on the MP series I had started on has been on the Khajuraho temples. After that I went to Bandavgarh National Park (where I sighted a tiger too), then Jabalpur, Bhedaghat, and continued to Bhopal, Sanchi, Bhojpur, Bhimbetka...and till now I have not put up posts on these places. I have photographs of these lovely places, and hope to write some blog posts some day. Will let you know then.:)

Ravi Kumar said...

@Baiju: Thanks for dropping by. I didnt know Raktabija is so popular.

alok said...

Nice post!!! and now after reading your post, I am planning to visit this temple on my next trip to Orissa.

Thanks for dropping by at my blog and the comment.

Ravi Kumar said...

@Alok: You surely must. As an Oriya especially :)

Unknown said...

Nice post man...really excited to see the place.

Somebody once said, 'Life is a book and those who don't travel read only one page'. When I first read this quote, I didn't feel the depth of it since I was not a traveler then. But now, traveling has become an addiction. I have been a fitness freak for quite some time now. Combining the two passions of my life - fitness and traveling - what clicks is adventure-sports.
I have been passionate about wildlife ,treking ,paragliding,climbing and other outdoors.
I have always liked getting in toch with people who share common interests.I have recently started my blog on adventure sports in india.You can put your views there and also share your experiences and new places with me.

http://adventure-sports-india.blogspot.com/


Abhishek

Lakshmi said...

Hi

My second attempt at commenting here :)

Its amazing how we discover history at every nook and corner of our own backyard..a great post ..keep them coming

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