Chausath Yogini Temple, Ranipur-Jharial,

“The term Yogini could be understood in various ways: as a female spirit endowed with magical powers, a fairy, witch, sorceress, a class of female attendants of Durga, and sometimes the term is used for Durga herself.” (Brighenti 2001: 293). Yogini means ‘power of union’ or ‘the power that facilitates union’. Those 64 powerful Yoginis have unique personas and powers to fulfill ones desires, drive away negativity and fear, prevent misfortunes, give knowledge, peace, all-around prosperity, good progeny, and auspiciousness of all kinds. In tantric tradition, Yoginis are considered to be fertility Goddesses. Their aspects are also innumerable such as benevolent, fierce, rule over the negative or positive tendencies of humans. Yogini in others view has been a demoness or sorceress, possessing magical powers. Sixty-four Yogin is symbolising the multiplication of these values. The symbology involves references to sixteen kalas or phases that are constituted by the mind, five gross elements, and ten sense organs. The moon has sixteen phases out of which fifteen are visible and one is invisible. There is a group of sixteen eternal goddesses. There are sixteen Siddhis or attainments or supernatural powers. The circle of sixty-four Yoginis symbolises the continuation of life. It is a never-ending circle – a spiritual symbol named ‘mandala’. Yogini Temples are always circular in design. Usually the yogini temples were situated in remote places for tantric rituals. The goal of Yogini worship, as described in both Puranas and Tantras, was the acquisition of Siddhis. The Sri Matottara Tantra describes 8 major powers, as named in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, namely :Anima, becoming microscopically small, giving knowledge of how the world works; Mahima, becoming huge, able to view the whole solar system and universe; Laghima, becoming weightless, allowing levitation and astral travel away from the body; Garima, becoming very heavy and powerful; Prakamya, having an irresistible willpower, able to control the minds of others; Ishitva, controlling both body and mind and all living things; Vashitva, controlling the natural elements, such as rain, drought, volcanoes, and earthquakes; and Kamavashayita, gaining all one's desires and any treasure. The Kularnava Tantra a treatise on the Yogini, it uses the term Yogini in three different contexts – Devi, female partners in the Cakra ritual and describes the goddesses as the patron deities of the Kaulikas. Therefore the Yoginis are simultaneously feared as well as worshiped. Stvan Keul identifies the Yogini cult as a multivalent cult with both devotional and tantric connotations, and writes; “that it was only through the royally sponsored construction that the transition of this specialized, secretive and siddhi oriented cult to a broader and more porous cult suitable to the larger public could be accomplished.” (Keul 2012: 3-5) Ranipur-Jharial is located at a distance of 105 km from Balangir, Odisha. As per historians, the Somavanshi Keshari kings built many temples in Ranipur-Jharial that can be dated back to 8th century A.D. Ranipur Jarial is known as “Soma Tirtha” in scriptures. It is a combination of religious faiths of Shaivism, Budhism, Vaisnavism and Tantrism. Sixty-four Yoginis are worshiped on a close circular open vault. The temple is a wonderful architecture of archaeological heritage and cultural history of Odisha. A signboard outside the entrance of the 64 Yogini temple that reads - this monument has been declared to be of national importance and protected under the Ancient Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958 (24) of 1958. Dr. C.B. Patel writes; “Ranipur-Jharial Hypaethral 64 Yogini Temple is a circular roofless temple dedicated to the 64 Yoginis is a monument of the Somavansis who ruled over this territory in 8th/9th century A.D. It is built of sand stone of the local variety. The temple is in good condition. At the centre there is a roofed porch enshrining a six-handed dancing Shiva. All around in the niches we find Yogini images. Beglar who visited the place in 1874-75 has also noted them. We count now 62. There might have been two more on both sides of the southern entrance. The niches measures 100 x 50 cm. The wall measures from 2.60 to 2.65 m. The niches begin in the third course of stone slab. The wall is covered with a coping stone.” Yogi temple of Ranipur-Jharial, Odisha, is the first to be discovered among all the 64 Yogini temples in 1853 by Major-General John Campbell. According to him, “Yogini temples are not closed structures and they don’t have the ‘garbhagriha’ or the sanctum sanctorum where the presiding deity is worshiped. Rather these are circular structures opened to the sky. Ranipur-Jharial temple is built circular in plan measures about 50 feet diameter of outer portion. The height of the enter wall is 8.86 feet and consist of five courses of hammer-dressed stone as hard masonry and crowned by projecting eave and large semi-circular coping. To enter in the shrine from the east by a passage, which measurement 5.18 feet wide and 5.74 feet long. There are 64 niches in the temple including the one at the center housing the three-faced Shiva in a dancing pose. At the centre of the temple is the original shrine with four pillars, holding an image of Nateshwar Shiva as Lord of Dance. The Shiva image is three-faced and eight-armed, and is depicted with urdhva linga. Ganesh and the bull Nandi are shown in the image's base. The similar-sized image of the Goddess Chamunda in the temple may once have been housed with Shiva in the central shrine. This is a roofed structure and the images are largely intact. 13 of these 64 statues of Yoginis made up of sandstone are missing and some others have been damaged beyond recognition. 14 of the Yogini images have animal heads like that of an elephant, cat, snake, or antelope also of a leopard with a tantric overtone. The leopard-headed goddess is holding up a human corpse, suggestive of the corpse rituals (shava sadhana) of the Yogini cult.” The 19th century archaeologist Alexander Cunningham described two further Yogini images. “One, uniquely, had the attributes of the Sun-god, Surya; she had two arms, a lotus flower in each hand, and seven horses. The other (now surviving only from the knees down) was dancing on a reclining male; she had 6 or 8 arms, and was depicted pulling her mouth open wide; she held a skull-cup, a kettle-drum, and a sword.” The Ranipur Jharial Yoginis are made, like the temple walls, of low-quality coarse sandstone, which has weathered poorly. Uniquely, all the Yogini images are depicted poised about to dance, in the karana pose of Indian classical dance; Vidya Dehejia explains that the posture is taken up at the start of each group of movements. There are no matrikas or mother goddess images along with the Yoginis unlike in the case of the other temples. The absence of haloes or attendant figures as at later Yogini temples, suggests that this temple was built relatively early. This is because of the fact, Ranipur Jharial temple was built much earlier. Similarly, well-known Indologist Prof. Henrich von Stietencron (2013: 70-83) has equated these temples to Kala Chakras or the wheels of time. According to him; “the temple being perfectly circular and with the entrance facing east. The architecture of these temples was such which helped the priests to calculate solar and lunar time. He further elaborates his hypothesis by looking at the square-shaped Chandi Mandapa located at the centre of the temple.” The Chandi Mandapa as mentioned above houses four bhairava images, but according to architectural texts there used to be a standing image of Martanda Bhairava at the centre of the square pavilion. A dancing Martand Bhairava image has been found in Chausath Yogini shrine of Ranipur Jharial in Balangir district of western Odisha. ‘Martanda’ is one of the names of Sun god, and ‘Bhairava’ is a ferocious form of Shiva who is associated with yoginis. The solar aspect of this temple could also be ascertained from the four faces of Martand Bhairava representing four directions. The cosmological arrangement of the temple shows Sun as the ruler over space and time, as it is the Sun which is the representative of the solar year and the stable centre around which all the movement circulates. Hence, it is believed that keeping in line with the architectural and iconographic programme of the Chausath Yogini temples a four-faced Martanda Bhairava stood in the middle of the circle of merry-making yoginis, as Miranda Shaw (1994: 81) describes them: ‘yogini’s gathered at feasts to play cymbals, bells, and tambourines and danced within a halo of light and a cloud of incense. Within this nocturnal congregation, a circle of yoginis feasted, performed rituals, taught, and inspired one another. They sang songs of realization regaling one another with spontaneous songs of deep spiritual insight.’