This story was covered seven years ago(tentative time Nov2009.) in The Pioneer. I am posting it for perusal ofall
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Mission
to explore potential tourist sites in Balangir kicked off
Sudhir Mishra | Balangir
With a view to bring the unexplored places of tourism into the limelight and improve the living standards of people there by promoting culture and tourism in the district, a mission to explore the hitherto lesser known tourist places of Balangir district was undertaken by the Balangir Sub-divisional level Lok Utsav Committee on Tuesday ahead of the famous Balangir Lok Utsav scheduled to be held from December 5 to 8.
A team comprising officials, media persons, students and teachers of the History departments of Rajendra College and Women's College and intellectuals led by Sub-Collector Rajendra Patnaik visited Gumagarh and Tentelkhunti sites, which have vast tourism potential and can be transformed into flourishing tourist destinations as felt by experts.
Located 45 km from the town, these two historic places have got little attention and a thorough excavation and exploration of these sites should be undertaken, explained journalist Sapan Bohidar to the team.
As the name suggests, Gumagarh is a fort built on an elevated place on the banks of river Rahul and just 100 metres away from the confluence of Rahul and Tel rivers. The fort is said to have flourished along with the fort at Sisupalgarh near Bhubaneswar.
The Sub-Collector described the significance of the two places to the team. After covering Gumagarh, the team headed to Tentelkhunti village where images and idols of Jagannath, Bhalabhadra and Subhadra are worshipped along with Shakti.
I saw in a dream the vivid presence of Lord Jagannath in this sacred place, said Makhananda, a villager. I reached the exact spot as communicated in the dream and after searching for a while found the lord and since then the spot turned into a place of worship, he informed.
Besides the makeshift temple, there is a temple dedicated to a goddess which is now in a dilapidated state. It is also said that there was a cluster of temples in this area where Shakti cult was practised along with worship of Jagannath, Bhalabhadra and Subhadra which is a unique religious tradition. Locals have taken away many precious stones from the historic site, said another villager.
Professor S Pradhan of Utkal University had done some research on Gumagarh few years ago. Interestingly, the remains of the top portion of the temple suggest that it was built in the ninth century, according to a history lecturer.
It is believed that this region had a unique way of worshipping Jagannath, Bhalabhadra and Subhadra along with the prevalence of Shakti cult. It is further believed that the Jagannath cult originated from here and later spread to other areas of the State including Puri.
A detailed scientific excavation of Gumagarh and a thorough study of Tentelkhunti should be undertaken in order to know the significance and the rich cultural heritage of the two historic sites. This can also bring many unexplored and unknown facts about the region to the limelight, opined S Nanda, a lecturer in history.
Sudhir Mishra | Balangir
With a view to bring the unexplored places of tourism into the limelight and improve the living standards of people there by promoting culture and tourism in the district, a mission to explore the hitherto lesser known tourist places of Balangir district was undertaken by the Balangir Sub-divisional level Lok Utsav Committee on Tuesday ahead of the famous Balangir Lok Utsav scheduled to be held from December 5 to 8.
A team comprising officials, media persons, students and teachers of the History departments of Rajendra College and Women's College and intellectuals led by Sub-Collector Rajendra Patnaik visited Gumagarh and Tentelkhunti sites, which have vast tourism potential and can be transformed into flourishing tourist destinations as felt by experts.
Located 45 km from the town, these two historic places have got little attention and a thorough excavation and exploration of these sites should be undertaken, explained journalist Sapan Bohidar to the team.
As the name suggests, Gumagarh is a fort built on an elevated place on the banks of river Rahul and just 100 metres away from the confluence of Rahul and Tel rivers. The fort is said to have flourished along with the fort at Sisupalgarh near Bhubaneswar.
The Sub-Collector described the significance of the two places to the team. After covering Gumagarh, the team headed to Tentelkhunti village where images and idols of Jagannath, Bhalabhadra and Subhadra are worshipped along with Shakti.
I saw in a dream the vivid presence of Lord Jagannath in this sacred place, said Makhananda, a villager. I reached the exact spot as communicated in the dream and after searching for a while found the lord and since then the spot turned into a place of worship, he informed.
Besides the makeshift temple, there is a temple dedicated to a goddess which is now in a dilapidated state. It is also said that there was a cluster of temples in this area where Shakti cult was practised along with worship of Jagannath, Bhalabhadra and Subhadra which is a unique religious tradition. Locals have taken away many precious stones from the historic site, said another villager.
Professor S Pradhan of Utkal University had done some research on Gumagarh few years ago. Interestingly, the remains of the top portion of the temple suggest that it was built in the ninth century, according to a history lecturer.
It is believed that this region had a unique way of worshipping Jagannath, Bhalabhadra and Subhadra along with the prevalence of Shakti cult. It is further believed that the Jagannath cult originated from here and later spread to other areas of the State including Puri.
A detailed scientific excavation of Gumagarh and a thorough study of Tentelkhunti should be undertaken in order to know the significance and the rich cultural heritage of the two historic sites. This can also bring many unexplored and unknown facts about the region to the limelight, opined S Nanda, a lecturer in history.
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