Sami Brikshya and Kalo Dam

Samibrukhya (Samibrikshya) and Kalo dam are two beautiful tourist spots separated by a distance of 3 to 5 kilometers. Samibrukhya is not a brukhya or brikshya(tree) and Kalo dam is a dam not very old. Both belongs to Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, India. It is strange that many people living just within 40 kilometers radius from these sites are not aware of these two beautiful places. The truth is that many people living just 50 kilometers from the spots have not visited the spots once in their lifetime.  Of course bad communication is the main reason to be blamed. The other reason is perhaps the apathy of government or administration and local people.

Samibrukhya and Kalo Dam

One can reach these two spots in several ways. All the routes to these places are not in very good condition. Balasore (Baleswar) is the nearest rail head. Kala dam and Samibrukhya are located at about 55 kilometer from Balasore. The tourist have to travel via Udala. From Balasore to Udala there are two routes, both almost equal distance and similar in condition. One can also reach Udala from Baripada. Baripada is another nearby rail head. From Udala Kalo Dam is about 15 kilometers. Those coming from outside Odisha it is covenient to Reach Balasore by train then hire a vehicle for Samibrukhya and Kalo dam. The travel time from Balasore to Udala is around one and half hour. The tourist may also stay at one of the hotels at Balasore and visit the tourist spots chandipur, Panchalingeswar and other places. Ideal season for visit is from Novembr to February. Visit to these two places should be avoided in the rainy season.

Samibrikshya

As the scripture says, the five Pandav brothers were hiding with their wife Draupadi below a tree. That tree has become the stone in Kaliyuga (Kaliyug).  This single stone forms a hill  which is Samibrukshya. The sides are very steep to climb. Every year a fair is held at Samibrukhya towards 14th of January (Makar Sankranti).

Pandav Brothers and Draupadi at Samibrukhya

Kalo Dam

It is the dam on the Suno river. The river Suno is the tributary of River Budhabalanga. The main purpose of the dam is for the control of flood and irrigation. Here electricity is not generated. The locality is rich in scenic beauty. It is a perfect picnic spot.

You can spend hours there. In the photo taken from the dam side also is seen the Samibrukhya in the other side. 

Kalo Dam

While returning Balasore  you can take the route through Nilgiri and visit Bhudhari Chandi and Jagannath temple near Nilgiri on the way.

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Konark

The Sun Temple at Konark

The sun temple alsocalled as Konark temple is located at Konark, Odisha, India. The temple is dedicated to Sun God. Hence it is so named. It is also called as Black Pagoda. Probably it is so named by the Europeans.


The Sun Temple was built at the time of King Narasimhadeva in thirteenth century. The temple was built using sand stone. Perhaps it is one of the few mysterious things in Odisha. Thousands of people visit the temple each day. It is sure that you will appreciate the temple, the architecture, the art form.  But people from different mind set view it from different angles.  As a Odia boy I remember that starting from class-I to Class-12, we studied about Koanrk Sun temple several times, sometimes as a prose and sometimes as a poetry, in Odia language or in english. The stone carving, the architecture, the art, the dance forms has puzzled them. The writer have agreed in some aspects of the temple and disagreed on several other aspects. The writers and poets interpreted it differently.

King Narasimhaveva-I ordered the erection of the temple. For which 1200 carpenters were employed. The 1200 carpenters took 12 years to construct the temple. They left home and family for building konark temple. The construction work was headed by the chief architect Bishu Maharana. But after 12 years labour the carpenters were unable to complete the temple. The problem was that the whole temple along-with its surrounding was complete except the top of the Temple. However they tried to complete the top of the temple, they were unsuccessful. The top portion collapsed several times after completion. The king issued ultimate date of completion. The carpenters were worried and in deep thought.

Superior Stone Sculpture

The carpenters had left home for last 12 years. In the mean time  the son of the head architect Bishu Maharana has become 12 years old. His name is Dharmapada.  He asked his mother to pay a visit to his father at Konark. His mother agreed and Dharmapada left home to see his father. When he reached Konark he gave identity to his father. Soon he came to know the reason of sorrow and unhappiness in the face of the carpenters. He then decided to finish the top portion of the temple which collapsed several times. Helplessly everybody agreed and left it on the hands of Dharmapada. Dharmapada did not have any practical experience in temple building but he was thorough in the theory of temple building and architecture. He was successful in completing the top of the temple. All the carpenters were surprised. But everybody was afraid that, when the king will come to know that the temple was finally completed by the 12 year old boy then the king will be angry and punish the carpenters. Irrespective of his father's request Dharmapada decided to sacrifice his life to save the life of twelve hundred carpenters of his community. He jumped from the top of the Konark to the Sea and died. The sea now has receded to about three kilometers from the Konark temple.


The Konark temple is in the form of a chariot. It is the chariot of Surya (Surjya) the Sun god. The chariot has 24 wheels. The chariot is pulled by seven horses. The  seven horses represent the seven composition colors of the sun rays. The 24 wheels of the Konark is some way associated with the life of a human being in a day in 24 hours.

One of 24 wheels of Chariot Konark

It is also said that once there was a large magnet on the top of the temple. It is believed that the magnet was able to attract ships made of steel. Hence the magnet was removed by the British. But I feel that it is a wrong concept. Actually the magnetic field due to this magnet was disturbing the magnet piece used in the ship for finding noth-south direction. So the magnet at ship showed wrong direction. Hence the magnet at the top of the temple was removed. But the reason of placing the magnet at the top of the temple is still a puzzle.

Part of konark is in ruin. The government of Odisha has been able to restore part of the temple. Many great people described Konark in their own languages in their own mental setup. different people viewed the same temple and its stone carvings and sculptures from different angle. Never miss this great temple.  I feel that you may find something new which others have not found at Konark.

Each year Konark Dance festival is held at Konark around the month of December. It is an unique opportunity to see famous dancers of different classical dance forms performing on a single stage

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