Jhadeswar temple, the pilgrimage site of Jharsuguda

Among the thirty other districts of modern Odisha, Jharsuguda district is illustrious as a mineral and industrial prosperous district. An ancient human civilization emerged on the soil of the district three thousand years ago, the evidence of which can be perceived in  "paintings and inscriptions"of Bikramkhole cave. A short distance from this is the Ulapgarh mountain fort of Mahabharata era. Nagabanshi princess Ulupi  resided  with pandav Arjun for  some years in  fort which  testifies to the region's antiquity.

Asthsambhu  of Jharsuguda districts are (1) Sri Jhadeshwar Temple, Jharsuguda, (2) Shri Maheshwarnath Koili Ghughar waterfall, (3) Shri Swapneshwar Temple, Semilia, (4) Shri Paschimeshwar Temple, Adhapalada, Shri Mandal, (5)  (4) Sri Bhubaneswar Temple Mahadev Pali (Sodamal), (4) Sri Loknath Temple, Kolabira (4) Sri Jhadeshwar Temple, Singharpur.

Shri Jhadeshwar Temple located in a miniature natural pretax   forest about one and a  half kilometers from  Jharsuguda headquarter. The provincial  denizens of Jharsuguda have been adoring Jhadeshwar Baba since foretime that is quite  arduous to accurately demarcated. The hearts of all  Jharsuguda  citizens are replete of devotion to Baba Jhadeshwar. Entire  Jharsuguda folks have a deep reverence for God  jhadeswar Baba.

Jhadeswar Temple

History and Legend

Historical studies have exposed that Jharsuguda was established on the land adjacent to this shrine.  During the reign (1857–1955) of  the seventh king of the Chauhan dynasty Chhatra shah dev in Sambalpur kingdom, granted Jharsuguda Land to his grandson shiv Singh.

Once upon a time, a giant tiger was biding in the jungle of the Jharsuguda , and attacking large number of animals and people causing fatalities, creating an atmosphere of terror throughout the region. At the behest of King Rudra Shah dev, the hero Shiva Singh slaughtered the tiger with a sharp sword and rescued the people from the tiger's clutches. King chhatrasav  pleased with the public welfare services of Shiv singh and donated jharsuguda to his grandson.

Even though no concrete evidence has been detected up to date about the origin of the Jharsuguda, but a historic folklore can be heard in the regional area.

In densely forested kingdom Dhanpur under Jharkhand province, neighboring state of Odisha, inhabited by a large number of Kisan communities.  The tribal king of the Dhanpur kingdom was childless. Once, the king was suddenly shocked to notice two human children weeping at the corner of deserted forest while moving through the jungle for hunting. King rescued both the children with the help of his servants and brought them to the capital and nourished them as son in his palace. He was named the eldest son "Cheranga" and the youngest son "Zenga". Since childhood both the princes used to roam fearlessly in the woods as well as practiced  platform building for hunting, horse riding etc. regularly.

One day, as soon as younger brother Zenga jumped on the horse's back and gripped rope to ride the horse , the horse trembled and began to run at great speed. The horse reached  a pond located on the outskirts of the tribal-dominated kingdom Nagpur after crossing woodlands. 

He tied the horse's rope to the body of a tree and rested under shadow of a massive tree. At that point in time, the throne was vacant due to premature death of the Maharaja in the empire of Nagpur.  Chief ministers, generals and servants were  organized a huge procession to appointment  appropriate person on the throne by placing a gold Kalash on the head of a horse. Zenga roused from the ground slumbering below the shade of a tree as the procession drew near.

The horse proceeded near Zenga and  poured water from golden kalash on his head, royal servants cheered and took Zenga to palace  with honor at the behest of Minister. On the other hand, the eldest brother Cheranga had evacuated to nagpur from  Dhanpur empire and  became a resident of Zeranga after cognizing that his younger brother Zenga was the king of Nagpur.

At one time,  a huge conference was organized by the Kisans community in the empire of Nagpur.  The session was attended by a large number of local Kisans who consume large quantities of alcohol and  beef, a large number of Kishan family members were suddenly diagnosed with diarrhea and cholera. Shortly after the incident, a large number of Kisan women, men, and children were deceased and generated panic ambiance for which many Kisan families fled in groups. 

Kisan people from Dhanpurpur kingdom  invaded into Panposh area of Gangpur (Sundergarh) monarchy of Odisha through the Ranchi road of Jharkhand. They then infiltrated the Bamanda (Devgarh) kingdom to reside.

King Bamanda first reformed all kisan families because of their large scale eating and Superstition habit and allowed them to take refuge as citizens of his kingdom.  The people of  Kisan community were quite courageous and hardworking.  He was experienced in agriculture, animal husbandry and mining. So the Bamanda king provided land to  Kisan families and segregated them into three subdivisions such as Kisan, Mirza, and Koda.  They were later divided into Luha, kuaa, Majhi, Toppo, Jhin, Palla, Bara, and Lakra.  The Bamanda king employed kisan mainly in the work of carrying palanquin.  A few years later, some of the Kisan families eloped from Bamanda realm to Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

In the middle of the twelfth century AD, the Kisan family from the Bamanda kingdom under the leadership of Jharu kisan  settled in the vast forest province east of the Sri Jhadeshwar temple on the outskirts of the modern city of Jharsuguda.  The small village was inhabited by twelve Kishan families, and the village was named "Jharguda"  after leader Jharu Kishan.

In the thirteenth century, a large Gond empire in the ancient Gondwana region under Madhya Pradesh collapsed.  Thus, many families from the notorious Gond community pervaded the western part of Odisha.  However, a branch of the Gond community  infiltrated the "Jharguda" village.

As a consequence, there was intense fighting between the Kisan and Gonda communities, the Kisan community defeated by them ,  and evaded to the northeast of Jharsuguda and settled in a secluded place in the Badeimunda area under the modern city of Jharsuguda.  These farmers were recognized as "Badhei" because of their skills in farming, animal husbandry, carpentry, and agricultural labor, and the area was popularly known as "Badheimunda".

The Jharkhand region was the complete residence land of the Gond community until the fourteenth century AD. "Bhalupatraguda" and "Kalapatraguda" were structured at a time in the eastern part of the canal that flows through Jharsuguda. The Tantrics of the Gond community lived in  Kalopatraguda village.

King Chhatra Shahdev of Sambalpur originated a special "Jharguda courtyard" in the seventeenth century AD consisting of 12 villages adjacent to  Jharguda and granted Jharguda courtyard to his grandson Shiv Singh.  The Jharguda consisted of 12 villages (1) Jharguda, (2) Badheimunda, (3) Banjari, (4) Dalki (5) Kumudapali (4) Kurevaga, (4) Sarbahal, (4) Buromal, (4) Beheramal, (10) Ekatali, (11) Baljori, (12) Debadihi.

Marhatta Bankaji vonsala of Nagpur unexpectedly invaded the fort of Sambalpur and waged  an unusual war in the history of Sambalpur in April 1800. Marhatta's soldiers intruded  into the fort  by their appropriate planning and tactics. Correspondingly,  there was a fierce battle between the soldiers of the king of Sambalpur and Marhatta.

 The Marhatta military defeated King Jayant Singh's army in the battle.   Sambalpur King Jayant Singh and his minor son Maharaja Sai were apprehended and consigned to Chanda Jail in Maharashtra. Bhupa singh was in onus of Sambalpur fort on behalf of Marhatta Vonsala. Queen Ratan kumari secretly escaped from the Sambalpur fort to protect herself and forgathered with the British authorities in Hazaribagh. Foremost, she sought help to get back the fort of Sambalpur and get rid of Raja Jayant Singh and his son Maharajasai from the clutches of Marhatta. The clever British authorities promised to do so.

As a subsequence of the 'Nagpur Vonsala Appasaheb's Nagpur articulation ' (1817) and the 'Marhatta war' (1817-18), British  liberated sambalpur from Marhatta. The British general Rafjis released the Jayant Singh and his son from the Marhatta Vonsala prison to consolidate their rule in the kingdom of Sambalpur in 1817.

The British re-established Jayant Singh on the Sambalpur throne in 1817.  However, King Jayant Singh died in 1818 because of aging and old age.  Since his son was a minor,  government of Sambalpur earldom  was under the control of political agents for some years.

In 1820, Maharaja Sai of the Chauhan dynasty eclipsed the throne of Sambalpur. He was ostentatious king, and indirectly the British regimented  Sambalpur realm. Maharaja Sai, King of Sambalpur died in 1827.  Instead of interpolating any of the king's inheritor on the throne, the diplomatic British authorities interpolated the widow, Queen Mohan Kumari, on the Sambalpur throne.

During the reign of Rani Mohan Kumari, Eight sons of Shiva Singh, a descendant of King Chhatra Shah Dev of the Seventh Chauhan dynasty stayed in the Sambalpur palace. Rani Mohan Kumari had proposed to the British government to grant the eldest brother Narayan Singh the throne of Sambalpur as her successor. But the British government incased queen instead of Narayan Singh. Therefore, Rani Mohan Kumari advised Narayan Singh and his brother Shiv Singh to settle in the donated land of Jharsuguda.

Meanwhile, the British government had engendered disputes among Narayana Singh and his brother with help of  queen's ottoman padmanabha Baksi. His  brothers threatened Narayan Singh to assassinate him and  sacrificed at Maa Samaleswari . He fearfully renounced sambalpur kingdom with his one younger brother and went to Akasi zone of Madhya Pradesh. Eventually, Ranjit Singh infested with a brother to settle in jharguda and ruled under the queen from 1829.

According to mythology :-

The appearance of Sri Jhadeswar Shivlinga in a small forest area adjacent to jharguda was unrevealed to the people until reign of Ranijita Singh. A Goud (Milkman) from Khaliamal a village used to come through forest regularly to graze cows. After observing  no milk in the udder of cow for some days, Goud suspected, 'someone steals cow's milk'.

One morning, he followed the cow to catch the thief.  The cow proceeded to the small forest while grazing and sprang her milk on a miraculous rock and fled to another place. Goud  was amazed to see such an incredible deed with his own eyes.  The frightened Goud immediately returned to his home and appraised everyone about the incident. The Men then reported the incident to the Jharguda  zamindar.  After hearing from the people of the occurrence, the zamindar  Ranijita Singh first inspected the shrine and built a leaf hut there.

British government  invalidated any of his descendants to perch on the throne as the successor after the death of Sambalpur King Maharaj Sai, ruled on name of  widow queen Mohan kumari which caused intense resentment among people.

Jharsuguda zamindar Ranjit Singh incepted a revolt against the British as the first claimant to the throne. The clever British government arrested and detained him at the Sambalpur royal Palace to quell the uprising.

His son Govind Singh repudiated to finish the revolt against the British which was commenced by his father Ranjit Singh. So Govind Singh directly launched an armed rebellion campaign in opposition to the British government.  The revolution was intensified by the direct participation of Gond people of Banjari, Dalki, Bhalupatraguda and Jhankarpada under jharguda zamindar. Entire Gond considered Govind Singh as their leader and pledged  to flock the rebellion.  They were armed with swords, spears, bows and arrows to fight the British and the Queen of Sambalpur.

Trilochan Roy of Khadiala, Abhut Singh of Bishii Kela, Medini Bariha of Kharmunda, Chandra Behera of Bamanda zamidari area, Shibu zamidar, Jagbandhu Babu of Sambalpur, Biju Dafadar, Dambarubandha, Rehan Bishwal, Narasimha Ghatu were also prominent figures in the revolution.

Padmapur warehouse of  Queen in Sambalpur was pillaged on July 27, 1827 led by Govind Singh. On December 12, 1827, the revolutionaries fought against the army of Queen Mohan Kumari and  Raigarh. The rebellion broke out in various parts of the Bamanda empire in 1824. In the Kharmunda area of the People of paahad Srigida, Bisei Bela,kharmunda joined the rebellion and prohibited  paying taxes.

On  June 3, 1833, revolutionary Govind Singh and Chandra Behera arrived  Dhanupali  located on the outskirts of Sambalpur and attacked Queen Mohan Kumari's army as result her army was vulnerable. The rebels plundered a lot of property. The British  Lieutenant General Drink's army failed to seize the rebels.  Thereafter a large number of these rebels formatted a canyon near Maneswar  on the morning of June 7, 1833. The British army steered by Lieutenant Hagan was failed to disarm the rioters.

 Another insurgent group led by Shukra Zamadar abandoned the Uttara village area and occupied the Gopinath temple in Sakshipada situated on the outskirts of Sambalpur town concurrently.  Under such circumstances, the threat of the extinction of the British in the state of Sambalpur was exacerbated.

On June 19, 1833, the Queen's army clashed with the rebel forces of the revolutionary Govind Singh. It was participated by British troops with guns and ammunition operated by Lieutenant Higgins, Lieutenant Drink and Lieutenant Hagan of the British Army. Fearing defeat, the revolutionary Govind Singh and his loyalists fled to the Bamanda deep forest and took refuge. 

On July 17, 1933, Govind Singh's rioter troops force fought with the British army under Major Wilkinson in front of the Shri Jhadeshwar temple in jharguda.In the face of modern British armaments, the rebels' bows, arrows, spears, and swordsmanship Couldn't stand last long. Hundreds of insurgents were slain and defeated Key allies captured by Wilkinson including the revolutionary Govind Singh. Later,  all the prisoners were tried in a military court for sedition in Sambalpur capital, The British authorities punished him with great cruelty and injustice.

Shukru zamadar, Jagbandhu Babu Biju dafadar, Dambaru kandh Rehan Bishwal, Narasimha Ghatu are  major  revolutionaries coordinated By Govind Singh were hanged on the premises of Sambalpur jail in August 1833. The uprising continued in the state of Sambalpur in 1801, when the diplomatic British authorities imprisoned the revolutionary Govind Singh without hanging him.

Meanwhile, a descendant of Chauhan  and Khinda zamindar veer Surendra Sai claimed the throne of Sambalpur in 1837 as one of the claimants. His brother Udant Sai and  fatherly Balaram Sai were restrained by the British on charges of murder and robbery of a Rampurgarh zamindar.

After a lengthy Judgment in court, they were shifted to Hazaribagh Jail in 1840 for life imprisonment. The British government in the entire kingdom of Sambalpur had achieved remarkable success in suppressing the rebellion after the capture of both the revolutionary Govind Singh and the hero Surendra Sai who were claimants for Sambalpur throne.

However, the British were unable to rule the entire Sambalpur dominion alone.  The diplomatic British government released Govind Singh from prison and granted him the Jharguda's mafidar.  As a result, he withdrew the demand for the Sambalpur throne  and vowed not to revolt against the British and assumed the post of Mafidar.

On another hand, Govind Singh's followers  were subjected  to seven years of imprisonment  and his desire to revolt was dashed. In this way, the British government with its tactics  succeeded in completely  suppressing  revolts. Evolutionary Govind Singh was released  resultantly from the Sambalpur jail in 1840 and took over charge of governance as Jharguda Mafidar.  After the long regime of Mafidar Govind Singh, his son Jagannath Singh possessed charge as Mafidar.

According to local folklore, a leopard during the reign of Jagannath Singh of Jharguda Mafidar Jagannath Singh was concealed in the forest at the Shri Jhadeshwar temple.The instance of a leopard had been ambushing and dispatching  cattle coming to the Jharguda small forest for grazing purposes, and created a climate of fear in the local area.  The daily traffic of  people  and worship service of the temple was disrupted.

At that moment , Jharsuguda Mafidar Jagannath Singh came forward to kill the leopard and rescued the people from the leopard. He intruded into the forest to  assassinate the leopard with a sharp sword where leopard was concealing. The tiger was hiding inside the temple.  He planned to take the leopard out of the temple .  So Jagannath Singh approached the temple and seduced the leopard.  As soon as leopard got out of the temple, Jagannat  had slaughtered the leopard with his sharp sword. the dread of leopards was alienated from the minds of the masses.

In  1891, the British government established a railway station in the Jharsuguda area on the Calcutta-Nagpur railway line.  Jharsuguda was renamed "Jharsuguda"  from jharguda on the day of the establishment.

Old Jhadeswar Temple

Inward sage

The Sri Jhadeshwar Temple is  distinguished as one of the oldest shiv shrine  in western Odisha and has been visited by many saints at various times. In the past, a monk named Kandha baba established a monastery on this pedestal. In 1929, a World recluse saint mouzgiri came from the Idore region of Madhya Pradesh and settled here.

 Ganesha Ram Baba  from the Mandla Ashram located on the bank of the   Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh , founded  an hermitage on the premises of Shri Jhadeshwar Temple in 1964.  He returned to his ashram after the  death of his preceptor Dhaniram Baba in 1966.

In 1982, another saint Janardhana Muni performed rigorous penance and established an ashram on 1-32 decimal land on the east side of the  Jhadeswar temple. Janardhan Muni  from Mandla ashram situated on banks of the Narmada River in 1966 and settled a small  monastery under large a tree in the forest of Shri Jhadeswar temple. His guru  Tapasi Kalyan Dasji lived in  the Amar Kantak Ashram located near Narmada river.  He is an apathetic communal monk. Shyamananda Das  saint from the Chandpur area of Puri district was residing  here in  1984 by building a hut.  After he suddenly left the ashram in 1985, a world recluse saint settled in his hermitage.  He has  passed away a few years ago.

Shri Jhadeshwar temple is also famous as an occult site.  In  1944, an astrologer named Sudarshan Sahu constructed a small temple  in the forest of  Sri Jhadeshwar Temple and  established his presiding deity Bhairav  from Buromal village.

 ( Shiva linga )

Servitor 

After Govind Singh became Jharsuguda's Mafidar in 1840, he focused on the reverence of temple .  Jharsuguda Mafidar Jhadeshwar brought a prier (Dhanpati Mali) named Jagannath Mohapatra from Bargarh's Sonda village for day to day worship of the Jhadeshwar temple and provided about eighteen acres of land.  Earlier the Gond Jhankars ( priest of one caste) of Bhalupatra village used to worship the temple.  The genealogy of prier Jagannath Mahapatra is sizeable today.  Descendants of his two sons Lakshman and Banamali grew up and the present grandchildren are Krishna, Khirod, Sushant, Arjan, Bhima, Nakul, Sahadev, Yudhisthira, Amulya, Arun, Fakir,  and Shivshankar.  Similarly, Banamali's Naren Mohapatra.  They are performing adoration job according to turns.

( Genology of Priest Jagannath Mohapatra )

( Genology of  king Chhatra singhdev )

Development

Many years after the appearance of Shri Jhadeshwar Mahadev and the establishment of the temple, a permanent temple was unable to construct.  Over time,  the immense mercy and blessings of Jhadeshwar Baba, various developmental works of the temple have been carried out. 

A few years after the founding of the city of Jharsuguda, Jagmohan Gangji Saria's two sons, Murali Jagamall and Ranchhor Jagamall from Gujarat and settled near the Jharsuguda railway station in 1914.  They were working as contractors under the Bengal-Nagpur Railway (BNR) at the time.  Once Mulji Jagmall visited Shri Jhadeshwar temple after receiving information  about this shrine from local people. Since there was no permanent temple, he decided to erect a permanent temple. With the permission of  then Jharsuguda Mafidar Rajendra Singh, Mulji Jagam commenced  construction of the temple of Shri Jhadeshwar.

The construction of the Shri Jhadeshwar temple was accomplished in 1915 under the supervision of his accountant Govardhan Rathore. A new temple was inaugurated in 1916  and the newly built temple began to attract a large number of Shiva devotees and  'Shiva Ratri' Fair was held annually. A few days afterward,  temples of Hanuman and Vairaba were erected with the financial support of masses. The Jhadeshwar temple was rebuilt in  1969  by the then Bhaskar Textile Mill owner and Calcutta industrialist Surab Mall Mohotak.

 However, some development of Shri Jhadeshwar Shiv temple area was completed by the Jharsuguda Municipality in 1917-72. The contribution of Chairman of the Municipal Council Narmada Shankar Avasti is commendable. Under his chairmanship, the asphalt road was prepared from the forest of the Shri Jhadeshwar temple to the main road of Jharsuguda city. Furthermore,  the necessary bridge was forged for transportation on the drain located on the route of the Jhadeshwar temple.  Various types of flowers and fruit trees were planted in the vicinity of the Jhadeshwar temple. Because of the gathering of pilgrims and devotees to visit the temple, a cement altar of trees model  was built for offerinf, rest and feasting. Iron benches were set up at various places  for relaxation and leisure entertainment.

Local leader and legislator Kishore Kumar Mohanty has taken several steps to improve the shrine since  1990.  Subsequently, about 1.5 acres of private  adjoining land was purchased by the Jharsuguda municipality and extensive tree planting was implemented.  A children’s amusement park initiated  in the forest area.

He has made an effort to make the Shri Jhadeshwar Temple a tourist destination in Odisha. Sri   Kishor Kumar Mohanty being the chairman of the West Odisha Development Council in 2014, and his tireless efforts to complete the reconstruction of Shri Jhadeshwar's temple are commendable. The new temple was inaugurated in 2017.  The newly built temple covers an area of 120 square feet and about 24 feet in height.

Statue of various deities are stationed on either side of Lion gate and interior of temple .  Ramayana and Mahabharata spectacles have endorsed on  enclosure of temple. At entrance gate, a brass statue of bull is  facing toward Lord Jhadeswar. Entire temple has been tinted with golden colour which bestows a splendid look  of sanctum.

Shri Jhadeshwar, Mata Parvati and Shri Bhaivar are present in the sanctum sanctorum of the newly built Sri Jhadeshwar temple whereas Shri Ganesh and Shri Hanuman are place in Left and right   sanctum sanctorum of the newly built small temple situated on both sides of the temple respectively. Arrangements are made  to wash the feet and hands at the gate. 

Festival and Attraction

God Jhadeshwar Baba  of  Jhadeshwar temple is reverenced as the presiding deity by residents of Jharsuguda.  Entering the premises of Jhadeshwar Baba’s temple novate  the psyche of the devotee. Sometimes Lord Shiva appears as a cobra snake to the devotees. Many such miraculous events are a testament to his compassion.

 Fulfillment of  the appetence of hundreds of devotees as a result of his precious compassion has now become legendary. Many devotees and tourists from far away get to this ancient shrine during most of the year.  There are examples of many prominent political leaders of India visiting this holy place many times of the year.

The holy 'Shivaratri' is celebrated every year on ' phalguna Krishna pakhsa' ( brightening moon  period of  February –Mar )   in the premises of Sri Jhadeshwar Temple. There is a large gathering of ' Bol Bomb' devotees around the temple from morning to evening  of each Monday in the month of ‘Shravaana'. The 'Shravan Mela' is held on the last Monday of the 'Shraavana'' on the premises of the Shri Jhadeshwar Temple.  'Basanti  Durga Puja' has been persuaded at the ancient shrine on the  month of Chaitra (March-April)1991.

Most of the year, the wedding  is solemnized  at the Shri Jhadeshwar temple premises. An amusement park for children has been founded in the forest adjacent to the Shri Jhadeshwar temple. The attraction of the park is due to the  arrangement of swing,slide and seeshow .

Jhadeswar Mandir Bikash Parishad is enunciated for conservation of shrine. All the exigent events such as Shrawaan fair, shivaratri , Basanti Durga Puja are conducted by committee.

A variety of fish have been dandled in a pool, excavated a short distance from the temple.  People come almost every day to  look over  fish and feed them. many anchorites and monks visited the temple and increasing the magnitude of the temple.  The carvings of the newly built temple in 2017 have also played a key role in attracting pilgrims and making it a tourist destination.

The natural enchanting surroundings of this ancient  sanctum gives ultimate peace to travelers, devotees and tourists. Various types of snakes are found in the forest land of the temple. The heat of the sun is not perceived under  shade of sacred Tree, Peepal Tree, Semal Tree, Karnikara Tree, Bahera, Safflower etc.   Perched around Jhadeswar temple's forest.

Jhadeswar Temple

How to reach 

Paved road  is connected from Jharsuguda main Road to the Jhadeshwar temple.  The ancient shrine is located just one mile  from the Jharsuguda railway station.  You can easily hire vehicle from Jharsuguda bus stand or Railway Station to visit Jhadeshwar temple. Visit the temple to get mercy and blessings of Jhadeshwar Baba

Natural ambience of temple

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Writer :- Rohit Kumar Lohara

                 Purunabasti, Jharsuguda

Input from:- Govind Chandra Tripathy

                        Purunabasti, Jharsuguda

Genology From :- Kunja Bihari Mishra

                              Purunabasti, Jharsuguda

Click on Link provided below to see location of Shri Jhadeshwar temple on Google map.

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