When someone tells Maa Manikeswari Temple, the 1st thought that comes into mind is about the Temple in Bhawanipatna near the palace, but do you know, there is another Temple of Maa Manikeswari at Thuamula Rampur.
Thuamula Rampur is a block in the Kalahandi district of Odisha, which is around 72 kilometers from the district headquarters, Bhawanipatna, and around 500 kilometers from the state capital, Bhubaneswar.
You can easily reach Th. Rampur from Bhawanipatna by local buses. The temple is situated very near to the Rampur Bus stop, so you can easily spot this temple for darshan.
Because Thuamula Rampur experiences a significant quantity of snowfall throughout the winter, it is also known as the Kashmir of Kalahandi.
The Manikeswari Temple in Thuamula Rampur is situated next to the Jamindar Palace and this temple is built with a Khapara roof which is quite famous and unique in the Kalahandi district.
As per the legend, this is the original place of Maa Manikeswari, but the original place was about 15 kilometers from this place. The Adi Pitha of Maa Manikeswari was at Thuamula inside the jungle from where the Indravati river originates.
During the rule of the Naga dynasty, king Ramachandra Deb shifted Maa from her original place to Rampur and then the name changed to Thuamula Rampur.
A few legends are there about the origination of Maa Manikeswari, you can read this blog by Dr. Biyotkesh Tripathy.
Note: This blog is written by Sangram Keshari Senapati with the help of Chandrakar Liman. Liman sir has taken all these photographs and all photo rights are reserved for him. So before publishing these anywhere, please take his permission.
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