BHUBANESWAR: In Vaishanavism, Garuda plays a vital role as the mount of Sri Vishnu. But the legends about ‘Garuda’ have always been ignored in Hindu mythology. Garuda never gets the credit it deserves. Odasingh village is an exception to this. It houses a unique temple dedicated to Garuda called the ‘Patali Garuda Temple.’
Odasingh is located around 10 km from Kharakhia Square on the way to Salepur in Cuttack. The presiding deity of this temple is Garuda who is worshipped along with Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra. This is probably the only temple in Odisha where Garuda is worshipped as the main deity.
Two heritage enthusiasts from Cuttack, Deepak Kumar Nayak and Dipak Samantarai, who visited this temple, told Orissa Post that there was absolutely no mention of this historic place in any records of the government or private organisations or on the Internet, although it has an interesting history and legends associated with it.
The temple here is new, but the ruins of an ancient temple can be seen around the complex. The boundary wall of the temple complex is also quite high and looks like the wall of a fortress.
The priest of the temple, fondly called ‘Garuda Nana’ said that during the early 18th century when Taqi Khan was the Naib Nazim of Kataka (Cuttack), the Muslim King of Darpanigada (who was a reliable assistant of Taqi Khan) demolished this temple. In those days, it was a temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath.
After destroying the idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra, when the evil King tried to cut down the Garuda pillar, he saw blood coming out from the pillar and frightened he fled with his troops. The cut mark is still visible on the pillar and Garuda became the temple’s presiding deity.
Samantarai also said that they saw a scratch mark on the wooden door of the temple and it was written that the door was donated by King Mukunda Deva-3. The ruins give the impression that they belong to the medieval period (most probably during the Ganga dynasty’s rule in Odisha).
