Friday, June 28, 2013

Goddess Ghanteshwari Maa in Sambalpur, Odisha

Ghanteshwari Maa is the Goddess of bells. Bell is very much favorite to Her and so Her name is ‘Ghanteshwari’, means the Goddess of bells. The famous temple of Goddess Ghanteshwari is situated near Chiplima, in the Sambalpur District of Odisha, India. People offer bells to Maa Ghanteshwari along with other sacred stuff there.

The Goddess of Bells Ghanteshwari Maa, , Chiplima, Sambalpur, Odisha

Ringing the bell is an essential ritual of worship and the priest or worshipper need to ring a bell with every single rite during the worship. The concept is that the priest wants to draw attention of the God/Goddess with one of His/Her favorite sounds and secondly, as God or Goddess are the sovereign authority of this world, you need to please them with music during execution of their daily rituals.

One can see a lot of bells everywhere in the temple premises. These bells are offered by devotees to the Goddess either after fulfillment of their wishes or to make a wish before the deity.

Maa Ghanteshwari Temple is situated on the bank of Mahanadi River at a distance of 33 kilometers from the district Head Quarter Sambalpur. Mini local public bus facility is available up to Chiplima village from Sambalpur. The temple is around 1 kilometer from Chiplima village and 17 Km from Gosala, the town that opens to the nearest N.H.201. Nearest Railway stations are Hirakud or Sambalpur. The temple can be visited across the year, but one should avoid rainy season for convenience. The Chipilima Hydro Power plant is located near the temple on the same riverbank.