Gupteswar Cave is a cave

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

dedicated to

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

, one of the key gods in Hinduism. It is a pilgrim site situated about away Jeypore, Koraput District in the state of

Odisha, India Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the third ...

. It is a

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

cave, and its main attraction is the gigantic

Shiva Linga A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...

which is said to be increasing in size. It is believed that the cave was discovered by

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

and re-discovered in the reign of Maharajah Veer Vikram Dev. In the holy month of Shravan, the cave is visited by devotees who walk to the shrine bare-footed with decorated bamboo palanquins called "Kanwadiya" and bathe in the maha kund before worshipping Lord Gupteshwar. There are 200 steps to reach to the Shiva linga temple. Its entrance is about wide and high.

Legend

Surrounded by a dense forest of

sal tree ''Shorea robusta'', the sal tree, sāla, shala, sakhua, or sarai, is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The tree is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet and across the Himalayan regions. Evolution Fossil evidence from lign ...

s and flanked by the

Kolab Kolab is a free and open source groupware suite. It consists of the Kolab server and a wide variety of Kolab clients, including KDE PIM-Suite Kontact, Roundcube web frontend, Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla Lightning with SyncKolab extension ...

river, a high

lingam A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or Aniconism, aniconic representation of the Hinduism, Hindu Hindu deities, god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Up ...

stands in the cave. The shrine is called "Gupteswar" which means the "God in hiding" because the

remained undiscoverable for a long time. One can reach it by climbing the 200 steps flanked with rows of

champak Champak is a popular fortnightly magazine for children published by the Delhi Press Group since 1969 in India. ''Champak'' competes with Amar Chitra Katha Amar Chitra Katha (ACK Comics) is an Indian comic book publisher, based in Mumbai, ...

trees. There are also several other caves nearby. Inside the second cave, there is a large

stalactite A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension (chemistry ...

. People worship it as the udder of God

Kamadhenu Kamadhenu (, , ), also known as Surabhi (, or , ), is a divine bovine-goddess described in Hinduism as the mother of all cows. She is a miraculous cow of plenty who provides her owner whatever they desire and is often portrayed as the mother o ...

(the divine cow) and wait under it with outstretched palms to collect drops of

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

which fall only at long intervals. Popularly known as "Gupta Kedar" in the vicinity, this

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

place is associated with the Hindu god,

Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

Shri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including In ...

. The nearby hill has been named "Ramagiri". According to tradition, the lingam was first discovered by Lord Rama when he was roaming in the

Dandakaranya Dandakaranya (), also rendered Dandaka (, IAST: ), is a historical region and the name of a forest mentioned in the ancient Indian epic ''Ramayana''. It covers about of land, which includes the Abujhmar Hills in the west and borders the East ...

forest with wife

Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

and brother

Lakshman Lakshmana (, ), also known as Laxmana, Lakhan, Saumitra, and Ramanuja, is the younger brother of Rama in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of Shesha, the lord of serpents. Lakshmana was married to Urmila, and is ...

, and named the deity in the cave as "Gupteshwar". The poet

Kalidas Kālidāsa (, "Servant of Kali"; 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on Hindu Puranas and philosophy. His surviv ...

too, described the scenic beauty of Ramgiri forest where the cave temple is referred to in his famous '' Meghadutam''. However, as the time passed, the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

was again lost in obscurity but in the 17th century, the

was discovered by a hunter who then informed about it to Maharajah Veer Vikram Dev, who was the king of that region and recently shifted his capital from Nandapur to the newly formed,

Jeypore Jeypore is a city in Koraput district in the Indian state of Odisha. It was established by Vir Vikram Dev in the mid 17th century. Dev's kingdom was defeated by the East India Company in 1777 who declared it a Zamindari or Feudatory of the ...

. King Veer Vikram paid a visit to the cave and was mesmerized by the grandiosity of the majestic

and the magnificent natural surroundings. He appointed priests in the cave temple and started a tradition of making a foot journey to the cave of Lord Gupteswar during the holy month of

Shraavana Śrāvaṇa () is the fifth month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Śrāvaṇa is the fifth month of the year, typically beginning in mid to late July and ending in late August. In the Tamil calendar, it is known as ...

which is performed by the people of the erstwhile kingdom to this day. Since then the lingam has been worshipped by the tribes and locals of

Koraput Koraput is a town and a Municipality in Koraput district in the Indian state of Odisha. Koraput town is the district headquarter of Koraput district. History The district of Koraput derives its name from its headquarters in the present town o ...

region. In

Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually to worship the deity Shiva, between February and March. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on the fourteenth day of the first half (night start with darkness - ...

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

festival) Gupteswar Temple draws over 200,000 devotees from

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

. People suffering from incurable diseases come here to worship the god and remain here for months in the hope of getting cured. Sabari river bank located near Gupteswara

Sabari river bank located near Gupteswara

References

External links

Gupteswar Temple and Cave Koraput
{{coord , 18.822571, 82.167325, display=title Tourist attractions in Odisha Caves of Odisha Hindu cave temples in India Hindu temples in Koraput district