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Historical Period16c CE
16th c. CE; temple reconstructed several times
š· AmitabhPatra Ā· [CC BY 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0) Ā· source
Deities
SamaleÅvarÄ« DevÄ«
SamaleÅvarÄ« ā tutelary goddess of western Odisha
SamaleÅvarÄ« ā tutelary goddess of western Odisha
SamaleÅvarÄ« of Sambalpur is the iį¹£į¹a-devÄ« of the entire western Odisha region, venerated by tribal, Hindu, and Jain communities alike. The goddess is said to have come from the MahÄ-VindhyÄ range. Her temple on the MahÄnadÄ« river is the focal point of the NuakhÄi festival (first-rice-eating, just after BhÄdra-AmÄvasyÄ) ā the regional equivalent of Onam. Also associated with Dhanu-YÄtrÄ ā a 10-day open-air re-enactment of Krishna's Kamsa-slaying that uses the whole town of Bargarh as its stage (largest theater in the world).
Daily aarati at dawn and dusk; abhisheka with water/milk/turmeric; kumkum offering; red hibiscus; oil lamp. For Tantric or non-Brahmin shrines: goat-sacrifice (traditional; increasingly symbolic pumpkin-breaking).
Hinduism's goddess-traditions are vast and diverse ā 51 Shakti PÄ«į¹has, 10 MahÄvidyÄs, 9 Navadurga, 8 Ashta Matrika, hundreds of regional forms. Each is a distinct face of the one supreme MahÄ-DevÄ«.
