GRAND HERITAGE

When the Kalingas ruled

A. SRIVATHSAN

Bhubaneswar, the ancient city of the Kalinga Empire, grew into a glorious royal and pilgrimage centre between the 6th and 16th centuries A.D.

PHOTO: ASHOKE CHAKRABARTY

LINGARAJ TEMPLE: All lit up.

It would be impossible to imagine a pack of 200 cards and a game with no numbers, no ace, no spades and certainly no jokers. But it does exist or at least it did in India. Much before the Europeans introduced the 52 set card game in India, Mughals introduced Ganjifa — a local card game. Ganj is believed to be a Persian word, which means treasure. Ganjifa are usually circular cards. They come in eight to 24 suit packs that are about 100 to 240 card sets and played differently in different regions. Of all the places, the cards made in Orissa are unique because they are in cloth. This is not surprising because Orissa has a celebrated textile tradition and is known for Patachitra. Pata refers to cloth and Patachitra is brightly coloured paintings. Ikat weaving, Bomkai and Koraput saris, oryzasative or unhusked rice craft, the list is long. Orissa is the land of ancient culture and crafts and Bhubaneswar is its celebrated capital.

Ancient capital?

Orissa was the land of the Kalingas. The bravery of the Kalinga kings is legendary and the battle waged by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka is often retold. Bhubaneswar, the ancient city of the Kalinga Empire, grew into a glorious royal and pilgrimage city between the 6th and 16th century A.D. It is said that there were 7000 temples in this city especially around the Bindu Sagar tank. It is no wonder that it is called the city of temples, abode of god and the Cathedral of the East.

Lingaraj temple is the most famous of the temples, but equally important are the Raja Rani, Mukteswara , Parasurameshwar and Brahmeswar shrines Dhauli hill near Bhubaneswar is associated with Ashoka's conversion to Buddhism. On the outskirts of the modern city of Bhubaneshwar is the archaeological site of Sisupalgarh , the ancient city that flourished between 3rd century B.C and 4th century A.D. Some think this site to be the city of Toshali, the ancient capital of the Kalinga Empire.

During the British rule, it was Cuttack and not Bhubaneswar that was favoured. In 1936 when Orissa became a province, Cuttack was chosen as the capital. It was only in 1948, Bhubaneswar became the capital and a new city was deigned by the German architect Otto Koenigsberger.

There are more than 30 water bodies including Bindu Sagar in the city. At present, most of them are polluted and silted. Heritage and urban development of the city cannot be sustained without effective restoration of these water bodies

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Caves tell a story

Udayagiri and Khandagiri are twin hills on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. There are many caves in these hills, which date back to the second century B.C. These caves originally served as the abode of the Jain monks and Buddhist ascetics. They contain valuable Brahmi inscriptions. Rani Gumpha or the queen's cave is the most elaborate of them all. It has a larger double storied structure with a open courtyard in front. Doorjambs of the cells and the columns have many decorative reliefs. Recent research shows that this cave was built meticulously to produce excellent acoustic effect and it might have functioned as a performance space.

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