Akhandalamani Temple () at Aradi village,

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 ...

, India, is dedicated to Lord

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 ...

(Baba Akhandalamani). Aradi is about away from

Bhadrak Bhadrak is a city of Odisha state in eastern India. The city is the district headquarters of Bhadrak district. According to legend, the city derives its name from the Goddess Bhadrakali, whose temple is on the banks of the Salandi River. Hi ...

. The present fifty-foot

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

and

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

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 ...

structure replaced a wooden temple some time between 1830 and 1840 AD.

Location and transportation

This famous temple, the abode of “Lord Siva” is located in the bank of river Baitarani, at Aradi, to the east of the district headquarters of

via Asurali, Kothara and Dhusuri. This place is also linked to

Chandabali Chandabali (or Chandbali) is an old town in the Bhadrak district of Odisha on the bank of the River Baitarani. History Before the 19th century AD, Chandabali was a small fishing village, and a natural river port. In 1866, trading began from th ...

by boat through the river Baitarani. From Chandabali ferry ghat to Aradi will take hardly two hours by boat. The temple is just 18 km away from the famous Kali mandir of Rameswarpur village.

Legend/History

There is no conclusive history available either regarding Baba Akhandalamani or the temple of the lord Siva. According to legend, around 350 years ago during the rule of

Raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

Sri Niladri Samara Singha Mohapatra, one early morning the Raja sent a peasant to cultivate his paddy field on the bank of the river Baitarani. While cultivating, the blade of his plough was broken by hitting with some hard material. The peasant was astonished and found a black glazed granite stone full of blood flowing toward the river Baitarani. The peasant ran to call King Niladrisamar Singh and he hurriedly came to the spot, finding a flood of milk in place of blood and a huge black cobra hooding the stone. That night the king had a dream regarding the arrival of the God Akhandalamani on that place. This news spread like wild fire in the locality. The next day King Niladri Samara Singha Mohapatra started worshiping the great god and immediately built a wooden temple on the spot. A large number of devotees from different villages started visiting and worshiping the great God. The king invited five

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

s from a village named Naharagrama of Jajapur district to perform seva-puja (worshiping and taking care) of lord Akhandalamani. The present main temple of Aradi was built by the King of Konika Shri Harihara Bhanja and his chief queen Satyabhama Patadei. The height of the temple is around 150 ft. All the stones used in this temple were brought from the historic hill of Lalitgiri near Chandikhol.

Temple

The main hall was built by a sage named Shri Narasingha Pratap Kumar and the surrounding wall of the temple was built by a noted sage named Shri Darshan Sekhara Das. Later, today's Bhoga Mandapa near the temple (along with the present temple office) was built by government initiative. The P.W.D road from Bhadrak to Aradi was declared State Highway and was converted into all-weather road instead of fair-weather road. A Pantha Nivas was built at Aradi by Tourism Dept., Govt. of Odisha. The Govt. of Odisha sanctioned a handsome amount for the temple. There was one reported incidence of theft and burglary at the temple.

Festivals

There are many fairs and festivals observed at the temple of Baba Akhandalamani like Mahasibaratri which is locally called ''Jagara mela''. On this day, pilgrims and devotees inside and outside the state assembl and worship Akhandalamani at Aradi. Bol bam devotees come to Aradi in large number from different areas in the month of Sravana to worship the God and pour holy water over the

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 ...

. The Bol bam devotees carry holy water from different rivers of India like

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

, Baitarani,

Mahanadi The Mahanadi River is a major river in East Central India. It drains an area of around and has a total length of . Mahanadi is also known for the Hirakud Dam which was the first major multipurpose river valley project after India's independenc ...

, Salandi, Peta etc. with a bamboo lever.

Controversy

In January 2009, the women and child development minister of Odisha was objected by the ''sevayats'' for desecrating the temple since she comes from a lower caste.

References

External links

Akhandalamani Official website

Akhandalamani

Wikimapia
{{Hindu temples in Odisha, other Hindu temples in Bhadrak district Shiva temples in Odisha