Biranchinarayan Temple, Palia - Another Sun Temple in Bhadrak

Biranchi Narayan Temple in one Sun Temple in Bhadrak under Odisha Tourism. It's another Sun Temple after Konark Sun Temple and the Biranchi Narayan Temple of Buguda, Ganjam.


Sri Biranchinarayan Temple is in Palia village, which is located around 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) from Bhadrak Town. It's on the south side of Bhadrak, on the way from Bhadrak to Chandabali. It occupies a significant place in the cultural map of Odisha state of India.


The standing Biranchi Narayan Temple stands as evidence of the heritage of Surya Upasana in Odisha. Biranchi Narayan is another name for Lord Surya, the Sun God of light and luster. The existing temple is dedicated to Biranchi-Narayan, who is enshrined as a roughly four-faced image of the Sun.


A square stone slightly tapering towards the top contains four carved images of the Sun, god in relief, on the four sides of a slab. The figures hold two lotuses in two hands, as usual, and are depicted standing on chariots drawn by seven horses. Architecturally, the temple can be dated to the 13th century. It was renovated and reconstructed at the beginning of the 20th century by the generosity of a local zamindar.


Architecture

In general, the structure exhibits the Kalingan style of temple architecture. The peculiarities of the temple include the two doorjambs of the eastern door, which probably originally belonged to a Saiva temple and were reused in the present temple during a renovation. The sculptures and carvings of the two doorjambs bear a close resemblance to the Siva temples of Bhubaneswar and Khiching of the 10th or 11th century AD.


Festivals

The main festival of this temple is Ratha Saptami or so-called Maagha Saptami. And another main festival is Samba Dashami. Since Samba, the son of Lord Krishna got cured by worshiping Sun, this festival is celebrating with joy.



  • All these photographs are taken by Jagannath Panigrahi.
  • And the data written about the temple are collected from different sources on the Internet.

Further Reading

Post a Comment

0 Comments