Incredible Kalahandi: Junagarh - City Of Temples & Natural Beauties

Junagarh is a town and a notified area committee in Kalahandi district in the Indian state of Orissa. It was the capital of the former state of Kalahandi. Junagarh is 26 km from Bhawanipatna, connecting National Highway 201.

Junagarh was a well-built fort. The fortified area has a number of temples with Oriya inscriptions. This is a place which has sculptural evidence of the sati rite, which was prevalent in medieval India, and was stopped during the British Raj by Lord William Bentinck. The sculptures are identified as sati pillars Junagarh was famous for its lakes and fruit garden"'cha kodi bandha naa kodi tota'", means 120 ponds and 180 orchard. Junagarh is also famous for its temples.it is also known as temple city of Kalahandi.

Festivals:-

Maa Lankeshwari is the principal deity of the Naga clan at Junagarh. The deity is still reverred by the king and his descendants.. The descendants of the king perform puja in the temple of Lankeshwari on the auspicious day of Mulashtami as KHANDABASA

‘Khandabasa’ festival was observed at Goddess Lankeswari temple at Junagarh with the congregation of a large numbers of devotees.After performing the traditional rituals, the swords of Goddess Lankeswari and Bhairav were placed on the two sides of the Goddess Lankeswari altar by a representative of the royal family in standing position over a heap of rice.Goddess Lankeswari is treated as a war Goddess as thus the significance of the practice of ‘Khandabasa’. Tradition has it that during the rule of Chindakanaga, Ganga, Kalachuri and Naga dynasties the traditional sword of Goddess Lankeswari was worshipped to seek her blessings before going to a war.

Durga Puja and gajalaxmi puja are also important festival. Various pandals are constructed throughout the town.From few years Kalahandi Utsav is held in junagarh block.This utsav is also one type of festival for peoples of junagarh block.

Lakes:-

* Lakshmi Sagar
* Siba Sagar
* Kastura Sagar
* Dhoba Sagar
* Rani Bandh

Temples:-

* Lankeswari Temple
* Dadhi baman Temple
* Jagannath Temple
* Trinath Temple
* Gayatri Temple
* Kanak Durga Temple
* Poda Mahadev Temple
* Sriram Temple