Titlagarh

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

---

Balangir district map

Titlagarh (तितलागढ़) is a town and tahsil in Balangir (Bolangir) district in Odisha. Titilagarh Junction railway station is a major railway junction in the Indian state of Odisha. It is site of a mysterious Shiva temple.

Location

Titlagarh is located at 20.3°N 83.15°E. It has an average elevation of 215 metres. It was once considered the Hottest place in India (Leaving aside the Thar desert).

Variants

• Titlagarh (टिटलागढ़)
• Titilagarh (टिटिलागढ़)

Jat Gotras Namesake

• Tetarwal

History

V. S. Agrawala writes that Ashtadhyayi of Panini refers to Taitila-Kadru (तितिल-कद्रु) (IV.2.42). Taitila country is known for horses. These horses came from Uttarakuru (north of Pamir in Central Asia). Taitila-Kadru is same as Tittirakalmāsha (तित्तिरिकल्माष) of Sabhaparva (II.28.6,19) (II.47.4). Taitila is synonymous with Kalinga , which may be identified with Titilgarh, south of Sambalpur in Orissa.

---

During the time of Grammarian Panini (5th Century B.C), a territory named Taitila Janapada flourished to the west of Kalinga and that territory has been associated by historians with the modern town of Titlagarh in Balangir district. Taitala Janapada was famous for trade in some commodities described by the Grammarian as "Kadru" the meaning of which may be either horse or cotton fabrics.

Chedi Rulers of Balangir

The territory comprising the present district of Balangir was in ancient times a part of the South Kosala. According to tradition, the origin of South Kosala dates back to the time of Rama and scholars like Pargiter believe that Rama's long stay in that region gave rise to the name of South Kosala after his original homeland Kosala. According to Padmapurana, the kingdom of Kosala, after Rama, was divided between Lava and Kusa, his two son. Later Kusa founded the city of Kusasthalipura and ruled over the southern half of Kosala (that included modern day Western Odisha and Chhattisgarh State).

During the time of Grammarian Panini (5th Century B.C), a territory named Taitila Janapada flourished to the west of Kalinga and that territory has been associated by historians with the modern town of Titlagarh in Balangir district. Taitala Janapada was famous for trade in some commodities described by the Grammarian as "Kadru" the meaning of which may be either horse or cotton fabrics.

According to Chetiya Jataka, the capital of the Chedi country was Sothivatinagara which is the same as Suktimatipuri of Harivamsa and Suktisahvaya of the Mahabharata (Vana Parva). The epic (Adi Parva) also states that the capital of the Chedis was situated on the bank of river Suktimati which is the Sukhtel river of Balangir district.

Thus the ancestors of famous King of Kalinga Kharavela were from the Balangir district as they were ruling over the territory drained by the Sukhtel river in Balangir, wherefrom they advanced towards the east and became the master of Kalinga by the 1st Century B.C. In the Hathigumpha inscription, Kharavela refers to one Rajashri Vasu as his ancestor, who is probably the same as Vasu, the son of Abhichandra, the founder of Chedi Kingdom. This Vasu may also be identified with Uparichara Vasu of the Mahabharata (Adi Parva) where he is described as the King of the Chedis who were ruling in the modern district of Balangir and Subarnapur.

Balangir region continued to be under the rule of Chedis during the 1st Century AD but in the 2nd century it came under the possession of the Satavahanas, whose king was Gautamiputra Satakarni. He is said to have built a magnificent vihara for his philosopher friend Nagarjuna on the Po Lo Mo Lo Ki Li or Parimalagiri identified with the modern Gandhamadana hills.

Early History: The earliest noted history of Balangir district dates back to the third century BC. The earliest introduction and spread of Aryan religious practice in Dakhin Kosala came with the initial incursion of the Jain religion. According to Bhagavati Sutra and Harivamsha Purana, Mahavir started his earliest preaching of Dharma at Nalanda, Rajgriha, Paniya Bhumi and Siddharthagrama.

According to some scholars, (D. C. Sircar) Punita Bhumi is a synonym of Paniya Bhumi as per Odra-Magadhi language. It is the same as Paniya Bhumi or Nagoloka, the present Nagpur, and it is further identified as Bhogapura, the modern Bastar, region of Chhattisgarh, Koraput, Kalahandi and Balangir district of Odisha.

In some of the insctiptions found in Balangir and Sonepur district, it has been mentioned that this part of the land was known as Attavika during Ashoka’s invasion of Kalinga in 261 B.C.

The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited Po Lo Mo Lo Ki Li monastery at modern Paikmal in the 7th Century AD. It was then having cloisters and lofty halls and those halls were arranged in five tiers each with four courts with temples containing life-size gold images of Buddha.

Utkal University Archaeology Prof. Dr. Sadasiva Pradhan excavated the Gumagad site under Gudvela block near the Tel river valley in Balangir district, where he found that a strategic military hub existed in the 1st century BC. It was set up by a king contemporary to king Kharavela. Four copper plates were also found at Terssingha village which speaks of the Tel valley civilisation. Those plates had information regarding the two capitals – Udayapur and Parbatadwaraka – which were under the rule of Rashtrakutas and local chieftains belonging to different clans. The Udayapur area, the capital of Rashtrakuta kings, who ruled in the valley, still does have standing structures and also the ruins. These are mostly found at Amathgad. Ruins of a medieval fort is also found there.

According to eminent historian and pigraphist Sadananda Agrawal, copper plates were recently found in Kapsila village near Balangir. The found materials were three copper plates tied together by a circular ring and issued by a king named Khadgasimha. It has been dated to the 8th century AD and it informs about new rulers and history of the Tel valley civilization.

टिटलागढ़ का यह शिव मंदिर

टिटलागढ़ का शिव मंदिर एक शिव-पार्वती मंदिर है। टिटलागढ़ उड़ीसा का सबसे गर्म क्षेत्र माना जाता है। इसी जगह पर एक कुम्‍हड़ा पहाड़ है, जिसपर स्‍थापित है यह अनोखा शिव-पार्वती मंदिर। पथरीली चट्टानों के चलते यहां पर प्रचंड गर्मी होती है। लेकिन मंदिर में गर्मी के मौसम का कोई असर नहीं होता है। टिटलागढ़ के शिव-पार्वती मंदिर में एसी से भी ज्‍यादा ठंड होती है। इस रहस्‍य को जानने के लिए काफी कोशिशें की गईं हैं। लेकिन कोई परिणाम नहीं मिला, यह विषय आज भी रहस्‍य ही बना हुआ है।

स्रोत : प्रियंका पांडे, नवभारतटाइम्स.कॉम 22.4.2019

External links

• http://balangir.nic.in/

References

---

Back to Orissa