Panthanivas at Ratnagiri. Telegraph pictures

Shrine on hilltop

The place: Chandital

Shrine: Sikharchandi

Where: Near Barachana in Jajpur district, 60 km away from Bhubaneswar on NH-5.

How: Take your own vehicle so that you can visit other places nearby.

Other attractions: Amaravati fort (within 10km), Mahavinayak temple (within in 15km), Buddhist circuit of Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri, Udayagiri and Langudi (within 40km)

Stupas around Ratnagiri

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 31: Chandital, a small village near Barachana on the NH-5 may be a lesser-known place on the tourism map, but it has every element to attract tourists from all across the world. It has Shakta, Shaivite and Buddhist shrines situated close to each other.

Sikharchandi, the famous shrine atop a hill near NH-5, is not difficult to reach. It is nearly 60 km from the state capital. If you want to visit the nearby places, then hire a vehicle. This will help you cover more places in a short time.

The hilltop of Sikharchandi

Chandital, the small village near the shrine, has a temple, which is under renovation. Superintending archaeologist of the state body BP Ray said: “The presiding deity and a rare Eka Pada Vairav (Shiva with a single leg) and many broken idols collected from nearby areas are a few attractions of the temple.’’

Once you reach the hilltop, the view of the green surrounding will floor you. The stairs to the top are natural and made of laterite stone.

Archaeologist Ashwinee Satapathy said: “Initiative is on to renovate the sanctum sanctorum, walls of the main temple, and also the stairs.’’

(Top) Ekapada Vairab statue and (below) the deity inside the sanctum sanctorum

After enjoying the scenic hilltop and shrine of Sikharchandi, one can visit the famous Amaravati fort, which is nearly 10 km from Chandital. The famous Mahavinayak temple near Chandikhole is 15 km away from Chandital along the NH-5. To add to your gastronomic experience, try out the local delicacies.

From Chandital within 40 km is the famous Buddhist circuit comprising Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri and Udayagiri. The tooth relic in possession with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was found during an excavation at Lalitgiri in 1985. It was found inside a small gold casket encased in multiple boxes of silver and steatite. These were all found in a Khandolite box.

Statues collected from the site

While researchers acknowledged that Kalinga (ancient Odisha) was a major centre of Tantric Buddhism in various forms such as Vajrayana, Kalachakrayana and Sahajayana, another group believed that Kalinga contributed immensely towards the growth of Tantric Buddhism and it had considerable interaction with Tibetan Tantric schools. The shrines consisting the circuits in Jajpur district perhaps were the centre of Tantric Buddhism.

Ratnagiri, a part of the Buddhist circuit

While the rich treasure of Buddhist heritage and culture was excavated from Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri and Udayagiri, discovery of another important site near Langudi hills provided a compact picture of the Buddhist influence over the region in the past.

“While Ratnagiri was the signature site in the excavated area of the early sixties, the entire data was reported by one British officer in 1871. Later, professor Prabhat Mukherjee of Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, organised a visit of the then central tourism minister Raj Bahadur in the early fifties and the ASI started the excavation under the guidance of Debala Mitra. Later, excavations were carried out by noted historian professor Krunasagar Behera of Utkal University with the support of the state archaeology in 1982-’83 and again by ASI in 1986,’’ said BK Rath, former superintending archaeologist of the state archaeology.

A temple undergoing renovation at Chandital