LEANING TEMPLE OF HUMA

                                       LEANING TEMPLE OF HUMA

Nikunja Bihari Sahu

        Bordered by the dusty villages and open countryside, Huma village is located on the bank of the river Mahanadi, 23 km south of the city of Sambalpur. Here, Mahanadi is seen to be hurrying on a rocky bed with grace and grandeur. Huma is a famous Shiva temple of the district Sambalpur and the abode of Lord Vimaleswara. Hundreds of devotees flock the shrine every day for visiting the deity and fulfilling of their cherished wishes. However, the prime attraction of the place is   a strange leaning temple that makes the shrine so unique. Nobody knows whether this structure is leaning by design or by default. One interesting fact is that while the edifice leans, the pinnacle of the temple is perpendicular to the ground. Amazingly, all other structures in the premises like the Bhairabi temple, Bhubaneswar temple, Aruna Stambha, Kapileswar temple and newly constructed Jagannath temple and Hanuman temples are also leaned.  In fact, almost everything within the temple complex is slanting!

Legen  Lord Vimaleswara is considered the prime deity of a chain of 8 Shiva-Lingas (Astasambhu) of the region. The other Shiva Lingas are Kedarnath of Ambhavana, Biswanath of Deogaon, Balunkeswar of Gaisama, Maneswar of Maneswar, Swapneswar of Sorna, Bisweswara of Soranda and Nilakantheswar of Nilji. The Shiva Linga  (a cylindrical stone considered the emblem of Lord Shiva) of Huma is believed to have a natural origin cropped up from the underground. The legend has it that a cow from a nearby village was regularly visiting the place and secreting milk over the Linga. The owner of the cow, finding the cow’s udder dry and milkless, followed the cow secretly into the jungle and found to his great surprise that the cow’s milk was pouring on a mysterious stone that consumed it quietly.  He propagated this miraculous incident and everybody came to understand the glory of the Linga. This ushered in  the worship of Lord Shiva. 

 Construction Period

          The account of the founder and the founding period of the shrine are debatable and shrouded in mystery. According to popular belief, the shrine is built by the 5th   king of the Chauhan dynasty of Sambalpur named Baliar Singhdeo between the periods 1660 to 1690; that means, the shrine dates back to  17th century A.D.  and is around 300 years old. There is some evidence to contradict the theory. According to an order issued by a British Settlement Officer A. M. Russel dated 5th  November 1872  the first king of the royal dynasty of Sambalpur Balaram Deo had dedicated  6 villages including Huma for the construction of the temple and carrying out of different religious practices and rituals  of the deity.  A court order issued by a contemporary British judge also supports this view. Hence, it is natural to believe that the first king of Sambalpur, Balaram Deo or some of his immediate successors might have initiated the construction of the shrine instead of the 5th king of Sambalpur who probably completed the structure.  Going by this fact, the period of construction will be considered a little older than the accepted period of dating back from 1545 A.D. to 1560 A.D.

            Despite the controversies described above, the temple of Lord Vimaleswara of Huma stands elegantly leaning reminding us of the glorious past of the royal dynasty of Sambalpur.

Scientific  Wonder 

    The shrine is built over a rectangular platform of 200 ft length and 120 ft width. The main temple of Lord Vimaleswar is clearly inclined towards the North-east side i.e. the river side. Due to the strange inclination, it is often compared with the Leaning Tower of Pisa of Italy which was constructed in the 12th century A.D. The surprising thing is that while the main temple is tilted to one direction, remaining small temples are tilted to other directions. Within the temple complex, everything was found to be in tilted condition including the boundaries. According to popular belief, the angle of inclination has remained constant over last 50 years.

     The reason for having a leaning structure of the shrine is again shrouded in mystery. Some scholars believe that the architect has deliberately made a leaning design from the beginning in order to safeguard the temple from the violent currents of the two rivers i.e.  Mahanadi and Dhulijore during the flood in monsoon. This is why different structures are made leaning to different sides. This theory also explains why the degree of tilting remains unchanged all these years and does not grow as in case of the other renowned tilting structures including the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Others hold the view that the temple gradually inclined over the years due to the depression of the foundation towards the riverside because of the impact of flood waters.  Given these controversies surrounding the cause of inclination, one often wonders how the temple stands stable in spite of its inclination.

        This is based on a simple principle in science called the ‘Centre of Gravity’ (c.g.). The ‘Centre of Gravity’ of a body is an imaginary point where its entire mass is assumed to have been concentrated. The force of gravity acts through this point that creates its Weight. The stability of bodies depends on the position of this point. As long as the vertical line passing through this point remains confined within the Base area of the body, the body stands stable. If this line goes beyond the Base area, the body becomes unstable. For this line to remain within the Base area, and hence, for the stability of the body following two conditions are to be satisfied:

1. The ‘Centre of Gravity’ should lie as low as possible.

2. The Base area should be broader.

These two criteria for the stability of bodies appear to have been taken into account in the design of the temple to achieve the inclination. Heavy stones brought from nearby quarries possibly in rafts in the river Mahanadi during the floods might have been stacked on the lower side of the temple for lowering of the c.g. (the temple is not quite high). The broad base area of the temple (200 ft x 120 ft) adds to its further stability.  However, the exact degree of inclination of the temple is to be measured precisely from time to time and any change over time is to be carefully ascertained to ensure appropriate conservation measures.

Other Attractions  

Apart from the leaning temple, a kind of reddish fish (popularly called Kudo ) in the river is another attraction for tourists. One can also feed the fishes which have become very good pets over the years. Feeding these fishes is considered to be very sacred.  Besides, one can also have a boat ride in the river Mahanadi to many small islands in it. 

                                                                                                                 Education Officer

                                                                                 Regional Science  Centre

                                                                                 Bhopal

                                                                                 Phone: 8018708858   

Reference

Shaiba Pitha: Humara Bakra Mandira ( a book in Oriya) written by  Radhakanta Seth

Photograph