Ancient Ullapgarh fort in jharsuguda : Prehistoric Rock engravings and Painting

-

Positioned in the western part of Odisha, Jharsuguda district is affluent in diachronic   and  naturalistic destinations. Jharsuguda District has seven thousand-years-old primitive inscriptions carved in the Vikramkhol cave, Sri Ram Chandi cave of the Ramayana era, Ullapgarh paintings and engravings of the Mahabharata era, the seventh-century Guja pahar Buddhist cave, the eighth-century goddess Padmishini temple.

Ullapgarh fort, rock engravings and paintings, jharsuguda
( Ullapgarh )


Ullapgarh

Many tourists from all over the country and abroad look up all these ancient sites.  For many years, it has been a star attraction for historians and researchers. The Rock shelter at Ulapgarh is also well-known as Ushakoti . The name Ullpgarh is derived from two words Ullap and garh . The  Ullap is emanated from local word  Ullua or Ullah which means wet land or soil.  Wet Soil maintains moisture throughout the year by virtue of   high ground water table  or perennial  stream that flowing from the foothill.  The garh means the fort.


There is an ancient  village called Ulap about 4 km south to Belpahar-Himgir Chowk in Belpahar town under Jharsuguda.  Maheshwari hills encircled by the  dense  forest extends from its adjoining area to the Himagiri in Sundargarh.  On top of this Maheshwari hill, lies the ruined fort of Ulapgarh fort of the Mahabharata era. Ullapgarh is about 30 km from Jharsuguda town. Historians and researchers often  arrive here to inspect.


On southern-eastern direction  of the ancient Ulapgarh fort,  there are the heavily forested  pradhanpat and Baghmura mountain range, and on western side,  Belpahar railway station is visible at a distance of about five kilometers in the Samada area. Similarly, On the north there is a dense forest stretching up to Hemgir and in the south stretching up to the village of Badjoch.


The remnants of the fort is sited  in the plateau at the top of the hill. The ancient Ulap Fort  was established on the  plains of the Maheshwari hills. The fort was placed 100 feet above sea level.  Fort  was about 400 meters long and about 250 meters wide. 


A moat was constructed  on its southern side stone floor.  The moat was about 12 feet wide and 150 meters long. There are many square and round holes on the stone floor  which diameters varying from 1-3 inches.  Wooden poles are used to be inserted into these holes to support super structures for living space, storage, arsenals, kitchen, sleeping areas and so on. Besides, several other pits were utilized for threshing grain.


A small well was excavated  on  the rock  floor of Ullapgarh fort.  The well was used to store rainwater to meet the water needs of   the residents of the fort throughout the year.  A  Shivalinga in the fort on the western edge of the rock shelter.  Rock shelter  is facing west.


The stone shelter  situated on the south side of the Ulapgarh hill preserves the stone art. The rock shelter measures 51 meters, 4.25 meters and  8 meters in length, depth and height respectively. The shelter is oriented east-west, facing towards the south. The rock shelter exhibits rock paintings and engravings within a rock panel of 45 meters in length and 4.85 meters in width. There are 407 specimens of rock pictures.


Paintings are drawn in monochrome of red , bi- chrome of red and white colour and polychrome of red, white and yellow.  The main forms in paintings are various geometric and non-geometric designs like rhomboids (08) zigzags (03), triangles (05), honey comb (08), broom or beaten brush marks  (97), ladder (02), wheel with  spokes (02), foot prints (04) and a host of intricate patterns and designs (15).


 overlying bi-chromatic paintings in red and white superimposed over monochromatic underlying dark red paintings with time interval. Owing to  collapse of over hang, the picture panel remains in direct sun exposure till the afternoon of each day. Streaming water from top at the eastern end of the panel has led to the growth of Lichen and the  formation Of dark segments above Rock Pictures. Picnickers and forest workers have vandalized the panel  by drawing different marks and graffities. Further,  Forest workers and picnickers have been cooking right under the shelter, smoke from the firewood disfiguring the  rock picture gradually.


For conservation of  rock art, overhang projection should be inducted to  stave off sun rays directly on the picture panel for more than 4/5 hours. An extensive plateau on the top the hill believed to be used as a military stronghold by Veer Surendra Sai.  Gun holes have been structured  at regular intervals in the fort, Which indicates the period of British Raj. People believed that it was a stronghold of Veer Surendra Sai who was regularly attending this locality with the help of the local tribal zamindar of Jharsuguda during the guerilla war against the British.

( Ullapgarh )


Myth

'Chess painting' among the various paintings in the cave, reveled that fort was once the abode of the royal family. According to legend, during the Mahabharata period, it was the residence of Naga Dynasty king. His beloved daughter Ullupi was skilled in Tantrism and resided in the fort with her father. Pandava Arjun spent a few years in the fort during the undisclosed period of twelve years in love with Ullupi.

Ullapgarh fort, rock engravings and paintings, jharsuguda
( Small holes )


Goddesses Manikeswari :-

Both the Himagiri and Ulapgarh areas were inhabited by the Kandha community, and they worshiped the goddess Manikeshwari as the presiding goddess. The then Himgirgarh zamindar transferred the idol of goddess Manikeshwari of Ulapgarh to Himgir  in 1567 AD. The statue was relocated on jhampi (bamboo structure ). Jhampi was brought down for some moment at  Kanika village, which lies in the middle of the Hermgir. That is why Kanika village is also called ‘Jhampi Utura’.

Every year at the Himgir Manikeshwari temple on the occasion of the Sharadiya Puja, first of all, the Ulap villagers have a special tradition of offerings and sacrifice in the temple, that traditions can be taken as evidence of the above incident.

( Picture of animal )


Getting There :-

Jharsuguda is well connected with other nearby cities by State Highway 10 and National Highway. Rickshaws are available in town. There are a several moderately priced hotels in the town.


Jharsuguda is a railway junction on the Tatanagar-Bilaspur section of the Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line and the Jharsuguda-Vizianagaram line.  The railway station comes under the South Eastern Railway.


Jharsuguda has an airport called  Veer Surendra Sai Airport which is located 5 km northeast of the city.

You  easily get plane for Jharsuguda from Delhi,Raipur,Kolkata and Bhubaneswar airport

Ullapgarh fort, rock engravings and paintings, jharsuguda
( Foot prints )


-------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks  you for reading my article 
🙏🙏🙏

Click on link provided below to see location of Ullapgarh on googl map 👇👇👇


https://maps.app.goo.gl/pvDTeT1zhjCqXafY9


Writer :- Rohit Kumar Lohara

Purunabsti, Jharsuguda


Reference :- 

(1) jharsuguda zilla Ra prachina parbatya durga ullapgarh

By :- Govind Chandra Tripathy


(2) ODISHA DISTRICT GAZETTEERS

By :- Odisha Government

Location: Ulap, Odisha, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Guja pahar –The Paradise of Jharsuguda

-
Image
Amidst the diverse touristic attractions in Jharsuguda, Guja Pahar is familiar as ‘paradise of Jharsuguda' for its splendid natural beauty. The artistic view of the blue waters of the Hirakud Reservoir positioned at the astern of the hill enchants tourists. Buddhist Caves of the Guja hill is a tantra meditation site. Scene of forested hills sprinkled all over Water Reservoir are adorable. Thousands of pilgrims flock to the 'Magha Purnima' and 'Ashadha Purnima' fairs to relish the outstanding natural beauty of the hill. The improbable deed of various supernatural monks at different points in times has fascinated everyone to the Guja hill. The historic site is sited close by the Barangamal village which is about 50 km from the Jharsuguda Headquarters.  ( Natural beauty of water reservoir ) Guja Pahar The historic hill is located in the adjoining area of Barangamal village under Tilia gram panchayat. There are 18 small and large caves in the Guja hill, the largest of w...
Read more

Bikramkhol cave, Archeological site of Jharsuguda

-
Image
In the foretime,  primitive human being used to roam in forest and mountain. Birds flying in the sky, fish transmitting in the river source and meat of different species of animals in the forest were their favourite food. That is why ancient human had used different types of weapons for hunting. They had been taking shelter in mountain cave to get protection from the sun, rain and cold. Eventually, primitive humans started abandoning the cave to settle in the group by building cottage permanently. The development of human civilization had started with the use of language and script. Relic of ancient civilization can be seen in mountain covered by deep forest of districts such as Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Nuapada, Sundagarh, Deogarh and Kalahandi of Western Odisha. Bikramkhol also spelled Vikramkhol is an archaeological site and containing pre-historic, undeciphered pictographic inscriptions. Script as well as pictures of 5 century BC engraved in the Bikramkhol Cave of Jharsu...
Read more