Mahavinayak Temple

Mahavinayak temple is a major center of pilgrimage and one of the oldest Ganesha temples in Jajpur, Orissa . In Orissa there are five different Kshetras or religious centers celebrated for these Five Gods: Vinayaka or Ganesh kshetra at Mahavinayak hills in the district of Jajpur, Vishnu or Sankha (the attributes in the hands of Lord Vishnu) Kshetra at Puri, Shiva or Ekamra Kshetra at Bhubaneswar, Durga or Viraja Kshetra at Jajpur or Yajanapur. Mahavinayak enshrines the five god heads in one Lingam. It is a place of worship for Ganapati.

Since Ganapati or Vianyak is revered here so its name is 'Mahavianyak'. The specialty of Mahavinayak temple is that the five Gods 'Shiva','Vishnu','Durga','Sun' and 'Ganapati' is worshipped as a single deity in a single sanctum Sanctorum. In no other Hindu temples such tradition of worship is present.

There is no revenue village/area as Chandikhole and the place is so named after Goddess "Chandi" worshipped by late monk Baba Bhairabananda Bramhachari who established the deity of Maa Chandi in one of the adjoining hills of Brunei full of dense forests and ferocious animals in 1932. The revenue village is in Darpani under Darpan ex-estate in Jajpur district, Orissa. Chandikhole has a special position in Orissa and its people and who can forget the line "Manda pita gol gol Chal Jiba Chandikhole" and Chandikhole Peda made out of Khoya (skimmed thickened milk).


It is 40 km north of Cuttack besides National Highway (NH 5) and South Eastern Railway and 4 km away from NH towards west via Sukinda-Paradip Expressway and also 70 km away from state capital Bhubaneswar in the same NH 5. The nearest bus stop is at Chandikhole chhak (4 km) and the nearest railway station is at Dhanmandal and Haridaspur both 6 km distant with auto rickshaw facility throughout. The nearest airport is Biju Patnaik Airport in Bhubaneswar.

One long hill of the Eastern Ghat mountain ranges named Brunei or Baruna or Barunabanta adjoining 7 hills stretches from the southeastern railway line up to Darpanigarh in east-west direction with beautiful green covering full of perennial source of water (spring) inside it from the bottom to the middle of the hill. The mountain looks like a Sleeping Elephant.

This place is also included in connection of "Golden triangle pilgrimage plan" such as Rantagiri-Lalitgiri (Buddhist Sculpture centers), Chatia Bata and Chandikhole. The Govt of India is assisting for their improvement. In first adjoining foothill base, there is the temple of Goddess Chandi and in the second foothill base there is the famous temple of Mahavinayak. In both the places there are perennial springs (named Golden Spring) with Pucca swimming ponds for bathing. Just in the middle of the hill and just above Mahavinayak temple there is another temple dedicated to Maa Banadurga with the miracle that the perennial source of water/spring is also present there at a height of 100 meters. One can go there using the steps(around 120) and the road facility to the temple is under construction.