Varahi Deula, Chaurasi

Varahi Deula
Central icon of Varahi Chaurasi temple holding fish and bowl
Varahi Deula Location within Odisha
Name
Oriya	ବାରାହୀ ଦେଉଳ
Geography
Coordinates
Country	India
State/province	Orissa
District	Chaurasi, Puri
Locale	Puri

Varahi Deula (Oriya:ବାରାହୀ ଦେଉଳ) is an ancient 9th century built temple situated on the eastern coast of Orissa in Puri district.

History and Tradition

This temple was built in honour of Varahi in the first quarter of 10th century A.D. during Somavamsi rule. The temple is east facing and built with Sand stone. The area dimension (L x B x H) of the temple is 15.84 m x 8.23 m x 8.40 m.

The main temple is like the Khakhara style belonging to Kalinga Kingdom architecture. Other such example is Vaital Deula, in Bhubaneshwar.

Spreading over about 2 acres of land, this shrine is Sakta and the presiding deity of the temple is Goddess Varahi, locally called as Matsya Varahi. She sits in lalitasana on a cushion placed on a plain platform with her right foot resting on the buffalo mount carved on the pedestal. She is presented as the pot-bellied goddess with the face of a boar. She has two arms and holds a fish in her right hand and a bowl in her left hand. A third eye is tightly engraved into her forehead. Here Barahi is worshipped in accordance with the tantric rituals. Goddess Varahi is offered fish every day.

The semicylindrical shape of the temple shows the variation from the medieval temples of Orissa. Daily the Mahaprasad of Lord Jagannath comes to this temple.

Festivals

Major festivals includes Vijaya Dashami and a fair in Chaitra.

Location

Chaurasi is situated between Nimapada-Kakatpur road and is at a distance of 30 kilometers from Konark and 14 kilometers from Kakatpur village with easy transport available from Puri and Konark. The easiest way to reach the temple is to drive 29 km to Charichhaka, take a right turn and drive 3 km to Amareshwar village and then take a left turn and drive 1.8 km.

External links

• The sculptures of Varahi Temple near Konark
• Evidences of Khakhara style of temple architecture in Ancient Kalinga