Kalapahada and Odisha Hindu Temples

 

 

Who is kalapahad??

Kalapahad (Black Mountain) was the name of an Iconoclast Muslim general of Mughal governor Sultan Sulaiman Karrani of Bengal. As stated some historical documents he was Rajiv Lochan Ray a hindu brahmin, an Oriya general of Gajapati Mukunda deva, the last emperor of the empire of Kalinga-Utkala, convert to Islam. After conversion to Islam he took a Muslim name but he is popularly known as Kalapahad. He was instrumental in conquering parts of Odisha for the Afghans of Bengal.

WHY Rajiv Lochan Become Kalapahad.

Once Sulaiman Karrani invited Rajiv Lochan Ray for some negotiations in his palace. Rajiv Lochan Ray met and fell in love with the daughter of Sulaiman Karrani and willingly converted to Islam. According to other sources, Sulaiman Karrani planned to have Rajiv fall in love with beautiful and charming daughter by including her in meetings and feasts with him. He offered Rajiv Lochan Ray to convert to Islam to which he offered to convert his daughter to Hinduism and marry her.However, King Gajapati Mukunda Deva was opposed to such a matrimonial alliance and decreed that conversion to Hinduism was illegal. Enraged, Rajiv Lochan Ray converted and married Karrani’s daughter taking the name of Kalapahad (Black Hill – the destroyer).

Why kalapahad destroyed hindu temples.

After he converted to Muslim again kalapahad wanted to come back to Hinduism. For this he came to Puri to convert himself again to Hinduism-but the orthodox pandas of Puri Jagannath temple refused him to accept as Hindu In tune with the dictates of this new faith, he now believed that idol worship was a heathen activity, and went about destroying all Hindu idols in the region and embraced the new faith with the passion of the convert. He led Karrani’s revenge over Mukundadeva and attacked Odisha. He defeated Mukundadeva and sacked major towns and religious places of Odisha including Hijli,Cuttack,Jajpur,Sambalpur,Konark,Ekamrakhsetra, Puri etc. in 1568.

WHAT ARE THE DAMAGES HAD KALAPAHAD DONE IN ODISHA.

Odisha’s history states that Kalapahad conquered the region in 1508. Along with several other Hindu temples in Odisha, he demolished the Konark Sun Temple. The raid on Odisha by Kalapahad in 1568 is described in the Madala Panji of the Puri Jagannath temple. He broke most of the images in most of the Hindu temples in Odisha, including the Konark temple. Despite the massive stone walls ranging from 20 feet (6.1 m) to 25 feet (7.6 m), he succeeded in moving the Dadhinauti (Arch stone), which ultimately led to the tower’s collapse.He also destroyed a large number of Konark’s side temples and images. The tower gradually crumbled as a result of the Dadhinauti’s relocation, and stones that fell from the temple top damaged the Mukasala’s roof.

Kalpahad was buried in Odisha’s Sambalpur. A mango grove close to Samaleswari College, which is situated on the banks of the Mahanadi River in Odisha, is home to a large number of tombs thought to be those of the fallen troops of Kalapahar.
As a result, Orissa was conquered by Muslims in 1568. Attempts to demolish Hindu temples were persistent. In order to preserve the sacredness of the Puri temple, the Pandas of Puri removed the image of Lord Jagannath from the Srimandir and stored it in a hidden location. Similar to this, it is stated that the Sun temple’s ruling deity was removed by the Pandas of Konark and left hidden under years of sand. The image mentioned later was allegedly taken to Puri and stored at the Indra temple, which is located within the Puri Jagannath temple compound.

Others believe the Puja image from the Konark temple has yet to be uncovered. Others believe that the Sun figure now housed in the National Museum of Delhi was the presiding deity of the Konark Sun Temple. However, the removal of the figure from the Konark temple brought a stop to Sun worship there. This marked the end of pilgrimages to Konark. The port of Konark was also blocked owing to pirate raids. Konark was as magnificent a city for Sun worship as it was for commercial operations, but after these activities ceased, Konark remained desolate and was permitted to develop as a dense forest for years…