devkund

Debakunda or Devkund is a naturally created pond located in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, India—a part of the Simlipal National Park. The flowing water from an adjacent waterfall has created this pond. There is a temple dedicated to Goddess Ambika, which was built by Rajkumar Prafulla Chandra Bhanja Deo, a researcher and a king during British Raj who stayed at Devkund and researched about this place and Found Goddess' idol in a sleeping posture above the Waterfall.
The temple is located at the top of the lowest waterfall, which is known as Deba Kunda. The sleeping idol of Goddess Ambika is naturally formed over the Rocky mountain. Along with her Goddess Lalita, Goddess Kurukulla, and Goddess Bhoga-malini are being worshipped. The mountain is called as Bhimashan Hill (ଭୀମାସନ ପାହାଡ), where the flowing fountain creates 5 ponds, named as BhudarKunda, TailaKunda, Haridrakunda, DeviKunda, and Debakunda respectively.

Debakunda is home to various lichen species from the family Parmeliaceae. various orchids are also found deeper in the forest.

Location

Devkund is located at a distance of 30 km from Udala, 60 km from Baripada and 66 km from Balasore. It is situated at the outermost part of Similipal National Park. So after crossing the barricade, it's a no network area.

Religious Etymology

Debakunda is a combination of two Odia words, "Deba" which means deity, and "Kunda" which means small pond or tub. The entire fountain is told to be guarded by different deities, who are different forms of Shakti. Debakunda is the lowest waterfall of the mountain, above that the pond is known as Devikunda, beside which the Ambika temple is located. Opposite to Ambika temple, on the other side of the pond, there's a rock containing 100 shivalingas, known as Shata-Rudra Shila (ଶତରୁଦ୍ର ଶିଳା). The pond above Devikunda is known as BhudarKunda. Goddess Varahi is said to be residing towards north and right above BhudarKunda. The next pond is called TailaKunda (ତୈଳ କୁଣ୍ଡ), where taila means oil in Odia and Sanskrit, and kunda means pond. This pond contains the most stickiest water which is darker in colour than the other ponds. The residing Deity of that pond is believed to be Goddess Bhuvaneshwari. The top most water body is called "Haridrakunda". Haridra means Turmeric and the water has a yellow tint in its colour, so it is called so. The residing Goddesses of the pond is believed Goddess Matangi and Gouri. The sleeping idol of Goddess Ambika, is kept hidden to the public, yet people can see the silhouette as a woman lying with her 2 legs straightened, which are clearly visible. There's a shiva lingam in her Yoni, which makes the place to be in a high spiritual energy.

References

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External links

Tourists Places in Odisha

Mayurbhanj district
Tourist attractions in Odisha