A protected monument under the ASI, Brahmani temple is both a Hindu and Buddhist place of worship in Avana, Baleswar, Orissa, India. Built in the 10th–11th centuries A.D, the presiding deity is an eight-armed three-faced Chamunda. About 6 km north of Ajodhya and 21 km from the Baleshwar town, the temple is set in a serene place on the banks of the river Son. It is considered as a pidha temple with adjacent flat roofed open mandapa. As for the Chamunda image and iconography, it is dated back to the 10th–11th centuries A.D.
With respect to modern temple, both exterior and interior are plain. The idol of four-armed Avaloketesvara is an interesting one. It has a pidha vimana fronted by a flat Jaga mohan. The vimana is pancharatha in plan and panchaga bada in elevation. Ashlar masonry is mainly used for construction and the main stone used for building this structure is Laterite which has excellent load-bearing strength. The images are made of chlorite stone, presumably igneous rock containing lots of Olivine minerals and Augite. The critics are of the view that the temple priests use vermilion and oil as part of puja protocol and they may harm the images of the idol over a period of time.
Tit-Bits:
Humane nature is a casualty when superstition overtakes rationality and common sense.
A septuagenarian priest in May this year, it is reported in the media, allegedly hacked a 52-year-old man to death on the temple premises in Odisha's Cuttack district, claiming that he "performed a human sacrifice to end the COVID-19 pandemic", police said. This gory incident took place in the Brahmani Devi temple in Bandhahuda village in the Narasinghpur police station. Local people, however, claimed that the priest Ojha had a long-standing dispute with one Pradhan (the victim) over a mango orchard in the village. On the temple premises, they had heated arguments over the orchard. The priest, despite his old age and the post he held , took revenge on the man under the pretext of getting instruction from the goddess for Narabali (human sacrifice). The police are investigating this case.
