the leaning temple of Huma

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The leaning temple of Huma

 

BIBHUTI MISHRA

 

The main temple, dedicated to Lord Bimaleswar, and other smaller

temples in the compound lean, though at different angles. But the

pinnacle is perpendicular to the ground.

 

 

 

A MARVEL: Theories abound but devotees firmly believe that Viswakarma

designed the structure.

 

Experts are foxed by this temple because Silpasashtra, the traditional

manual for temple architecture, does not mention such edifices.

 

Located on the banks of the Mahanadi, the 17th century temple of Huma

leans at an angle of 47 degrees to the west. Not only the main temple

but also the smaller temples in the compound and the gateway lean,

although at different angles! What is even more puzzling is that while

the edifice leans, the pinnacle is perpendicular to the ground.

 

This temple, dedicated to Lord Bimaleswar, is a Saivite shrine in

village Huma, 28 km Sambalpur, the premier western Orissa city.

 

Believed to have been built in 1670 A.D. by King Baliar Singh, the

fifth king of Sambalpur's Chauhan dynasty, this temple has baffled

historians and architects over the years. There have been some

theories, none of them very convincing, that seek to explain the

strange phenomenon. Some of the most popular theories are the tilt is

due to some defect in construction, due to weak foundation, due to the

displacement of the rock bed.

 

No visible crack

 

But there is no visible crack on the body of the temple which is a

rather small structure. All these combine to disprove the theories and

the impression gets credence that the temple would not lean unless

built like that. There is, however, a legend associated with this

temple. The story goes that the lingam around which the temple is

built was originally discovered by a cowherd. One of his cows would go

into the jungle everyday and return without any milk.

 

The bewildered cowherd followed the cow one day and was amazed to find

the animal standing over a black rock spraying it with its milk. It

did not take the cowherd long to realise that the rock was in fact a

Sivalinga and he began worshipping the God there everyday.

 

Huma is a picturesque place that attracts many picnickers. A large

fair is held here on the Siva Chaturdasi day in February. A flight of

steps connects the temple to the river which has an abundance of fish.

The devotees offer food to these fish which are never hooked as they

are considered devotees of Lord Siva. Interestingly, the leaning

temple is no mystery to the people of the village. They firmly believe

that it was built by Viswakarma, the divine architect! Sambalpur is at

a distance of 300 km from the state capital of Bhubaneswar and is well

connected by bus and rail service.

 

While Sambalpur has a number of lower, medium and a few top end

hotels, a cab can be hired to reach the leaning temple of Huma. But

make your own food arrangement.

[Guest guest]

" Pasayat, Chitra sen, 1990 " The leaning temple of Huma in Sambal pur

District in Orissa " , Orissa Review , November, pp 20- 23 reproduced

in the book " Glimpses of tribal and folk culture by the same author "

 

 

Sambal pur districts finds large number of Siva temples built under

the royal patronage of Chauhan rulers. The word sambal pur has come

from shambhu and it is from here that a tribe derived their name. The

most important among them were thos of the Asta Sambalpur (litt. Eight

sambhu or siva) which are

 

1 Bimaleswar (Huma) 2. Kedarnath (Ambabhona) 3. Viswanath (Deogaon) 4.

Balunkeswar (Gaisama) 5. Maneswar (Maneswar) 6. SWapneswar (Sorna) 7.

Visweswar (Soranda) 8. Nilantheswar (Niljee)

 

The Bimaleswar temple at Huma on the south bank of Mahanadi was

built by Maharaja Baliar Singh, the second Chauhan king of Sambal pur.

Huma is about 24 kms from Sambalpur. It is one of the earliest among

the Asta Sambhu.

 

There are certain miniature temples, which are also made to lean. The

existence of other leaning miniatures as well as the lack of

sculptures on the body of the temples, so as to keep it light, proves

that the leaning of the temple is deliberate and man made rather than

being accidental. It bears testimony to the advanced technical know

how of the Chauhan builders of Western Orissa.

 

The deul slants considerably in two directions. The puzzle is that the

porch of the temple appears square and there are no apparent filled in

gaps between the porch and deul. Marvel indeed.

 

The surprising thing is, the main temple tilted to one direction and

other small temples tilted to some other direction. And within the

temple complex i.e. within the boundaries of temple, everything found

to be in tilted condition including the boundaries.

 

Lord Bimaleswara is worshipped in the garbhagriha (sanctum

sanctorium) of the temple. Goddess Bhairavi is worshipped to his left

and lord Bhairo to his right.

 

 

The kudo fish in the river are so tame that they eat sweetmeats from

the tourists. the river ghat is known as machhindra ghat,

 

Twenty two steps leading to this ghat reminds us twenty two steps of Shri

Jagannath Temple at Puri. The water of machhindra ghat is considered

to be sacred.

Devotees take their bath here before offering puja to the deity.

Sometimes, people offer

food to kudo fishes. It is quite fascinating to see these fishes

accepting food from the

human beings without any fear. This reminds us the Maneswara Saiva

pitha where

tortoises in the adjocent pond also accept food from human beings

without fear

 

Interestingly, the kudo fishes respond to the call of the priests and

come to the steps of

the bathing ghat to be fed by the pilgrims. Nobody is allowed to catch

them (Senapati

and Mahanti, 1971 : 11). Local people consider them as divine

creatures and matchha

avatar (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu at Huma and Katchhapa avatar at

Maneswara. It is

believed that there is a secret path from the seat of Lord Bimaleswara

to the river

Mahanadi and the kudo fishes take shelter at the feet of the deity

during the rainy

season. Similarly, it is also believed that there is a secret path

from the seat of Lord

 

Maneswara to the adjacent pond. Several myths are associated with kudo

fishes. As per

the oral tradition, once a woman did not pay any heed to the local

people and caught

a kudo fish and decided to cut it into pieces. While attempting to cut

the fish with her

pankhi (locally made knife) she was immediately transformed into a

stone. The stone

image of the woman was found on the river bed for many years. Later

on, it has been

swept away by the flood water.

 

The village Huma and its Saiva pitha may be said to be much older than

the time

of Raja Balaram Dev whose Rajya was once called Huma desha. The

following analysis

uncovers that the existence of this pitha can at least be dated back

to the eleventh

century A. D. Learned scholar S. S. Panda (1996 : 34-35) identifies

some significant

 

points that the gateway/doorjamb to the garbhagriha of this temple is

of late Somavamsi

period and it is similar to that of the Jagamohana of the

Narasimhanath temple of

Gandhagiri near Paikmal of Bargarh district. Another significant

stone-panel fitted to the

wall of the Jagamohana on the proper right of the doorjamb is a broken

one, depicting

three grahas of the Navagrahas panel which can also be dated to the

late Somavamsi

period and in all probability was fitted above the doorjamb of the

garbhagriha in its

original state. Thus, the doorjamb as well as the broken Navagraha

panel can be

iconographically dated to the eleventh century A. D. Furthermore,

according to the oral

tradition prevalent in the village Huma and its surrounding area, the

Ganga king

Anangabhimadeva III (1211-1239 A. D.) has constructed this temple. In

view of this, it

can be said with precision that Huma bears the testimony of an

important place of

pilgrimage and a glorious place of Siva worship since at least the

eleventh century

A. D. if take these historical relics to be the earliest of all

antiquities available at Huma.

 

 

refer

 

" Pasayat, Chitra sen, 1990 " The leaning temple of Huma in Sambal pur

District in Orissa " , Orissa Review , November, pp 20- 23 reproduced

in the book " Glimpses of tribal and folk culture by the same author "

and http://orissagov.nic.in/e-magazine/Journal/Journal2/pdf/ohrj-011.pdf

 

 

 

A good picture is found here :

http://www.orissatourism.gov.in/leaning.html