Located in
the verdant environs of the Titilagarh sub-division
in Balangir district, the twin villages of Ranipur-Jharial
bear strong traces of their ancient heritage. This
is primarily evident in the numerous ancient temples
discovered by visiting pilgrims to 'Somatirtha'
(as they called this region).
Saivism, Vaisnavism,
Buddhism and Tantrism obviously enjoyed a great
deal of influence in the region. Situated on the
rocky outcrops of this region are a number of
temples that are of great interest to tourists.
Located here is the hypaethral temple of the 64
yoginis. It is one of the four famous Yogini temples
in India. The other three are located at Hirapur
(near Bhubaneswar), Khajuraho and Bheraghat (near
Jabalpur).
The finest specimen
of a brick temple is the 20 metres high Indralath
temple. It is one of the tallest brick temples
of ancient India. |
