Garedi-Panchana Buddhanath Temple, Odisha

Address

Garedi-Panchana Buddhanath Temple, Odisha

Balipatna, Garedi-panchana,

Odisha

Moolavar

Shiva

Introduction

Buddhanath Temple is dedicated to lord Shiva, located in the Garedi-Panchana Village, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. The 12th-century Buddhanath Temple is dedicated to the god Shiva. The temple is in the village of Garedi Panchana in the block of Balipatna about 22 km (14 mi) away from the city of Bhubaneswar, India. The temple is said to have been built by the king Chodaganga Dev of the Somavanshi dynasty. Legend has it that snakebite victims do not die if they are brought to the temple premises. The temple is built on Tantric principles.

Puranic Significance

This temple was built by King Chod Ganga Dev of Ganga dynasty. Although this temple is said to be a shiva temple but the name itself is a mystery and more research will tell us why the name is Buddhanath. The presiding deity inside Budhanath is not a Shiva Linga, but a yoni, or female origin of the ‘Shakti’. The absence of the linga in the centre of the temple is also a mystery; it is a two chambered temple with Rekha Deula and a Pidha Jagamohan. It has a Saptaratha Plan.

There are a lot of heritage sites in Odisha having Buddhist importance, which are presently being worshiped as Shiva and Shakti. The Buddhanath Temple, as the name signifies refers to a strong connection to Buddhism through its name and architecture. The construction of Buddhanath Temple resembles a place of Tantric worship and it reestablishes the faith of Choda Gangadev in Tantric rituals (as per Madala Panji – the written paradigm of Jagannath Culture in Odisha). The Buddhanath Temple has building resemblance to that of many Kalingan Architecture with a three-leveled entrance, i.e. Natya Mandap, Jagamohan and the Main Temple Shrine or Garbhagruha. The main temple or the Garbhagruha of Buddhanath Temple was devastated with weather and erosion, which has been recently renovated by ASI.