The Dhamarai Temple (Odia: ଧାମରାଇ ମନ୍ଦିର) is a Hindu temple at Dhamara, a small coastal township, where the river Dhamra (Odia: ଧାମରା) meets the Bay of Bengal.
The place is around 60 to 70 kilometers from Bhadrak district headquarters in the eastern direction. Dhamara is surrounded by Chandbali in the West, Basudebpur in the North, Kalibhanjadia in the South, and Bay of Bengal in the East.
There are a number of legends and folk tales regarding the deity Dhamarai and the temple of Maa Dhamarai.
According to one of the historical legends, one merchant namely Dhaneswar who often traded with the Singhalies (Srilanka) had brought a deity namely 'Pashana Mangala' from Srilanka and had established the same at Dhamara on his way back home. The said deity, later on, came to be known as MAA DHAMARAI.
According to one of the folktales, Maa Dhamrai had five sisters and were residing at a place called 'Satabhaya'. Her five sisters were carnivorous in contradiction to her being purely vegetarian, which had angered her sisters and they pushed her deep into the sea.
Floating on the water Maa Dhamarai came towards Chandinipala and is believed to have been caught in the fishing net of one Sanatana Dalai and Bulei Behera who had rescued her and started worshiping keeping her in their house.
Later on, it is believed that on the same night the queen of the then King of Kanika, Sailendra Narayan Bhanjadeo saw a dream wherein Maa Dhamarai ordered her to build a temple.
The temple built by the then king Sailendra Narayan Bhanjadeo by the year 1953 got destroyed and the remains even were washed away into the sea.
During the said period the people worshiped the deity keeping her inside a thatched roof house.
- Content Source: bhadrak.nic.in
- Photo Source: Some from bhadrak.nic.in and others from different sources and the photographer's name is written on the photos.
- This is a basic blog just to know about this temple and the folk tales of Maa Dhamarai.
0 Comments