ODISHA REVIEW VOL. LXXVI NO.2-3 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER - 2019 SANJAY KUMAR SINGH, I.A.S. Commissioner-cum-Secretary KRUPASINDHU MISHRA, O.A.S (SAG) Director DR. LENIN MOHANTY Editor Editorial Assistance Production Assistance Bibhu Chandra Mishra Debasis Pattnaik Bikram Maharana Sadhana Mishra Cover Design & Illustration D.T.P. & Design Manas Ranjan Nayak Hemanta Kumar Sahoo Photo Kishor Kumar Sinha Raju Singh Manoranjan Mohanty The Odisha Review aims at disseminating knowledge and information concerning Odisha’s socio-economic development, art and culture. Views, records, statistics and information published in the Odisha Review are not necessarily those of the Government of Odisha. Published by Information & Public Relations Department, Government of Odisha, Bhubaneswar - 751001 and Printed at Odisha Government Press, Cuttack - 753010. For subscription and trade inquiry, please contact : Manager, Publications, Information & Public Relations Department, Loksampark Bhawan, Bhubaneswar - 751001. Rs.5/- Five Rupees / Copy E-mail : [email protected] Visit : http://odisha.gov.in Contact : 9937057528(M) i CONTENTS SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER - 2019 Mahisasuramarddini in Odishan Iconography Sanjaya Kumar Mahapatra ... 1 Divine Mother as Described in Devi Mahatmya Durga Madhab Dash ... 5 Bijaya Dasami-the Victory of Good Over Evil Dr. Dina Krishna Joshi ... 10 Goddess Kali Temples at Srikshetra Dr. Ratnakar Mohapatra ... 27 Sakti Centres in Cuttack District : A Historical Perspective Pareswar Sahoo ... 35 Goddess Durga : Divine Symbol of Power Prabhudutt Dash ... 39 Beware ! Our Oceans Would be Turning into a Thin Soup of Plastic Soon ! Santosh Pattanaik ... 40 Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Dr. N. Kumari Mohapatra ... 42 Sakti Consciousness in Tantra Himanshu Sekhar Bhuyan ... 44 EL NINO and Intense Tropical Cyclones Dr. Manas Ranjan Senapati ... 51 Future of Our Higher Education System Prof. Kumar B. Das ... 53 The Unique Festival of Lanka Podi at Subarnapur Sanjeev Kumar Rath ... 58 Biren Mitra : A Political Leader Dr. Sudarsan Pradhan ... 61 Nabanna Dr. Bhubaneswar Pradhan ... 66 Binode Routroy, The Unsung Artist Akhil Chandra Pradhan ... 67 Status of Elementary Education in Sambalpur of Odisha Dr. Antaryami Behera ... 69 Our Rule in our Villages : A Proposal to Sudhansu Sekhar Institutionalize Autonomous Tribal Governments Das Mangaraj ... 74 Analysis of the Right to Education to a Girl Child in India Rajalaxmi Das ... 78 Goddess Subhadra : The Paramount Mysterious Energy Er. Raghunath Patra ... 81 Shola Shasana of Puri and Lord Shree Jagannath Jatadhari Mishra ... 82 5Ts and Our State Charudutta Panigrahi ... 86 ii BIRTHDAY TRIBUTES Mahatma Gandhi 2.10.1869 - 30.01.1948 iii BIRTHDAY TRIBUTES Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das Lal Bahadur Shastri 09.10.1877 - 17.06.1928 02.10.1904 - 11.01.1966 Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Jaya Prakash Narayan 31.10.1875 - 15.12.1950 11.10.1902 - 08.10.1979 iv TRIBUTES TO MARTYR Baji Rout (Shot dead on 11.10.1938) v Thousands of devotees lighting lamps on the occasion of Deepavali in front of Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri. Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik felicitating the families of Puri for voluntarily giving away their land for the security and beautification of Jagannath Temple in Puri. vi Editor’s Note AUM Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya | Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya | Mrutyor-Maa Amrutam Gamaya | AUM Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih || "O Lord ! Keep me not in the Phenomenal World of Unreality, but make me go towards the Reality of Eternal Self, Keep me not in the Ignorant State of Darkness, but make me go towards the Light of Spiritual Knowledge, Keep me not in the World of Mortality, but make me go towards the World of Immortality of Self-Realization." Editor, Odisha Review Odisha Review ISSN 0970-8669 Mahisasuramarddini in Odishan Iconography Sanjaya Kumar Mahapatra One of the most impressive and formidable niche of many Saiva temples at Bhubaneswar and Goddess of the Hindu Pantheon is else where in Orissa. Although earlier images of Mahisasuramarddini. A popular form of Durga, this form of the goddess are known they were Mahisasuramarddini plays a vital role not only in not enshrined in the raha niche but rather placed the spiritual life, but also in the socio-religious life in the niches of the subsidiary pagas or in caitya- of the Odishan people medallions on the gandi. In from the earliest time to the the Somavamsi period, present day. The primary with new rulers from the function of the deity is to upper Mahanadi valley combat demons who assuming power, Parvati is threaten the stability of the returned as the parsva- cosmos. In this role She is devata at Bhubaneswar represented as a great and most other sites battle queen with many throughout Orissa. There arms each of which wields are in fact no surviving a weapon. She rides a images of fierce lion and is described Mahisasuramarddini as a as irresistible in battle. The Parsva devata at demon She is most famous Bhubaneswar in the post- for killing is Mahisasura, Bhauma temples. Her the buffalo-demon. Her most popular epithet is image virtually disappears from the decorative Mahisasuramarddini, the slayer of Mahisasura and programme at Bhubaneswar except for an image Her most common iconographic representation on the Lingaraj, and there are few surviving shows Her killing the demon. detached images from independent shrines, During the 8th - 9th centuries, possibly outside of Bhubaneswar, on the other hand, the due to the influence of the Bhaumakara rulers, images of Mahisasuramarddini continues to be the image of Mahisasuramarddini replaces that popular though only in a few cases She is of Parvati as the Parsva-devata in the north raha enshrined as a parsva-devata. For the most part SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER - 2019 1 ISSN 0970-8669 Odisha Review Her image was housed in a special shrine generally It is evidenced from the various research on the north side of the compound. In some cases journals and texts that in Orissa as many as 200 Her images are now found within the sanctum. images of Mahisasuramarddini from two-armed Next to the linga, or on latter Vaisnava Temples, variety to 20 armed one flourished between 4th next to Vishnu in a few cases as at Tangi or century A.D. and 15th century A.D. These images Garudipancana, She is housed in the niche of a while indicating the varieties signify the subsidiary paga though Her image is quite small efflorescence of the cult in Orissa and development and occupies a relative unimportant position in of plastic art over the ages. the overall iconographic programme of the temple. Viraja at Jajpur, the earliest Sakta Shrine Iconographically these Orissan images do in Orissa is a two armed Durga engaged in killing not appear to conform exactly to any specific the buffalo demon. Riding on a lion She holds a canonical text in respect to the weapons or spear (Sula) in Her right hand which pierces the attributes wielded by the goddess in Her fight body of the buffalo and pulls its tail in Her left against the buffalo demon. In general the number hand. Her right foot presses the head of the of arms of Durga varies from two to twenty with animal. The date of the image is assignable to pre- early images having the fewer arms and the Gupta or Gupta period. R.P.Chanda indicates the number of arms does not increase uniformly. two armed Durga appears to me to be the earliest Moreover Mahisasuramarddini images of Orissa form of the goddess conceived by her votaries can be placed into three modes or groups based and Viraja represents the earliest phase of the cult on the shape and form of the buffalo-demon. In of the goddess. Next in order of chronology may group(1) the demon is represented completely in be placed an image of four-armed variety at animal form. In group (2) the demon is Jahambira in the district of Keonjhar. She holds a represented with human body and a buffalo head, sword in Her upper right hand, a shield in the left in group (3) it is depicted in human form issuing upper arm, the right fore arm piercing the trident from the decapitated carcass of the buffalo. The on the neck of the buffalo-headed demon while second mode was most popular during the early the left fore arm presses the demon on his head. phase whereas the third mode became popular Here the demon is half animal and half human with during the 8th-10th centuries outside of a sword in one of his hands. Lion is absent here. Bhubaneswar, becomes standard mode for most This image may be placed to the post-Gupta later images. The first mode is extremely rare but period. Another two-armed image of the same examples appear sporadically on both early and period is noticed at Someswar in the district of later temples, in rare cases two or more modes Puri. may be found on the same temple, as on the Parsurameswar which has both mode (1) and There are several four-armed Durga mode (2) or on Durga temple at Baideswar where sculptures of Ganga period (1078 A.D.-1435 all three modes are found. By the 10th century A.D.) which give iconographic features different mode (2) disappears completely in Orissa though from the earlier ones. The image enshrined in the images can be found elsewhere in India, including Durga temple at Motia in Prachi valley holds an example in the Indian Museum at Calcutta conch shell, disc in upper two arms while the dated to the 11th Century. lower two ones are engaged in piercing the trident 2 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER - 2019 Odisha Review ISSN 0970-8669 on the neck of Mahisasuramarddini who is shown placed in the elegantly bejewelled pedestal. Devi fighting with shields and with her left leg in the here conveniently catches hold the demon with decapitated body of the buffalo.