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Orissa Review * September-October - 2007

The Varahi temple of Caurasi is unique in morethan one way. The image enshrined in this templeis exquisitely beautiful and considered to be oneof the masterpieces among the images of the deityfound all over India. Structurally marvelled, itstands different from all other contemporarytemples of Orissa (10th-11th century A.D.). Acurious combination of Tantricism and Vaisnavismcan be marked in the sculptures of this templewhich is at once amazing and thought provoking.

Varahi is believed to be the Sakti of Varaha.In the Tantric text 'Varahi Tantra' mention hasbeen made of five forms of Varahi i.e., SvapnaVarahi, canda Varahi, Mahi Varahi (Bhairavi),Krcca Varahi and Matsya Varahi.

The description of Matsya Varahi closelycorresponds to the image enshrined in he temple.She has two arms and she is shown seated inLalitasana on a pedestal. Following theiconographic canons, the image bears the face ofa boar and body of a divine woman. Her righthand holds a fish while the left hand holds aKapala. She has kept her right foot on her Vahanabuffalo which is seated on the pedestal at thebottom. Varahi is represented with a third eye onher forehead which is not clearly visible at present.Her hair is decorated in the form of spiral coils."The beauty of this image lies in her big belly toindicate her as holding the universe in her womb(Bhugarbha Paranesvari Jagaddhatri).1 On theback slab two Vidyadharas are represented eachon either side. In addition to the main deity in the

sanctum two more images of Varahi which aresmaller than the main image are placed in theJagamohana. Both of them are seated inardhaparyankasana. Among them the image in theright niche is shown with a fish in her right handand a kapala in her left hand. At the bottom afigure of naravahana is placed on the pedestal.The four-armed Varahi in the left niche holds akapala in the lower left hand and is shown withVarada mudra in the corresponding right hand.The upper right hand holds a fish and left handholds a rosary. Two of the Parsva devatas arestill found intact in the niches of the temple. In theniche of the south wall Ganesa, the deity of thelearning has been represented, while the niche ofthe west wall protects the image of Surya, thedeity of light. The niche of the north wall is empty.Most probably, it contained the image of sometantric deity i.e Bhairava. Lord Ganesa belongsto the divine family of Goddess Durga and Varahiis considered to be a form of Durga. In DurgaSaptasati, Varahi is evoked for bestowing longlife. So Ganesa's representation as parsvadevatais obvious. But the installation of Surya or Sun.God as a parsva devata seems to be conspicuous.Varahi is basically a Ratri Devata. She isotherwise called as Dhumra Varahi or Dhumavati.According to tantric rituals, She should beworshipped only after sunset and before sunrise.According to Parsurama Kalpasutra, the time forworshipping Varahi is in the middle of the night.How can Sun, the God of the Day be worshipped

The Varahi Temple of Caurasi

Jayanti Rath

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Orissa Review * September-October - 2007

alongwith the Goddess of Darkness ? Apparentlythis seems to be a riddle. The Sun temple ofKonark was constructed in the 13th century A.D.during the reign of the Gangavansi ruler NarasimhaDev. The Varahi temple was constructed on thebank of Praci river, about 9 miles from Gop onthe road to Kakatpur, most probably during therule of Somavansi kings. The distance of the spacebetween the two temples is too little, but thedistance of time span is too wide. It is interestingto observe that much before the construction ofthe Konarak temple. The Sun God had beenworshipped in the temple of Varahi.

In Vaisnava tradition Surya is consideredto be the manifestation of Vishnu. He is calledSurya Narayana or Viranchi Narayana. Varahias it is mentioned earlier is the Atmasakti ofVaraha. And Varaha is the incarnation of Visnu.The significance of Varaha avatar lies in the factthat this is the only incarnation of Narayana inwhich the Supreme Hari incarnated Himself in theform of a boar, which was identified by the Rsisas Brahma Varaha. He took Varaha form for twopurposes viz. to create the universe, and to redeemthe earth from the clutches of the demonHiranyaksa. So the co-existence of Varahi andSurya Narayana is quite acceptable.

The Praci Valley area is well-known as afamous centre of Vaisnavism and Saivism. It isthe seat of "Dvadasa Madhavas" and "DvadasaSambhus". But it would not be wrong to assumethat Pancamakara concept of Tantric Buddhismcomprising of matsya, mamsa, madya, mudra andmaithuna, developed in this region earlier thanVaisnavism and Saivism. This can be substantiatedby the depiction of the erotic figures found abovethe niches of Parsvadevatas According to J.NBanerjea, these erotic figures of the reliefs appearto illustrate the practices of eight types ofKamakala (astakamakala prayoga) of kaulaSampradaya.2 It is described in the fourth patala

of an unedited Sanskrit text called KaulaCudamani written in Oriya script. The date of thistext is not known, but the Vamacara Kaularitualism very well corresponds to these eroticrelief's on the wall of the Caurasi temple.

Viewed from architectural point, the templeof Varahi in Caurasi is the most beautifulmonument in the Praci Valley. This temple marksa significant deviation from the usual tradition ofRekha and the Bhadra type and exhibits a novelstyle which according to Orissan nomenclature isof Khakhra or Gaurichara variety.3 The groundplan of it somewhat resembles that of the Vaitaltemple in Bhubaneswar, but while the plan of thelatter admits of no regular ratha protection, thistemple presents a pancharatha type both in planand construction.4 The Vimana is rectangular incross section and with its elongated vaulted roofand other architectural features it resembles morewith the Gauri temple of Bhubaneswar than withthe Vaital temple. The vase of the Vimanameasures 18ft by 22 ft and height of it is 27ft.The Jagamohana which is also rectangular in shapelike that of the Parsuramesvara is a Pidha templewith seven distinct tires of Pidhas. The walls ofboth the Vimana and Mohana are beautifullydecorated with the figural and arabesque motifsand maintain a high order of balance and rhythm.

The noteworthy reliefs are found on a singleboard that surrounds the whole Jagamohana justbelow the Varanda where scenes from Ramayanasuch as killing of the illusory deer, the abductionof Sita, the murder of Jatayu, the uprooting ofseven palm trees, the murder of Vali, theconstruction of the bridge over the sea aredepicted with grace and precision. The majesticmoulding, designs and carvings of the entiretemple are found in remarkable varieties andprofusion not being overdone and accentuatedthe singular beauty and richness of the monumentsin a manner that was hitherto unknown in the PraciValley.

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From the availability of the numerousimages of Varahi, it is understood that Varahiworship must have been prevailed in Orissaduring early medieval period. There are manyshrines dedicated to her where she wasworshipped as a presiding deity. Mention maybe made of the Varahi temple of Satbhaya(Cuttack) Banchua (Keonjhar district),Narendrapur (Balasore district). Images of Varahihave also been found from Jajpur, DharmasalaAyodhya, Danagandar, Kisenpur, Tarapur,Padagadi, Kantilo, Garudapancana, Bayalishbati,Chatesvar, Bhubanesvar etc.5

The representation of Varahi in theSaptamatrka panel in different temples of Orissabe speaks of her pacific aspect Varahi, is the fifthin the row of Saptamatrka (the other beingBrahmani, Mahesvari, Kumari,Vaisnavi, Indraniand Camunda. She is otherwise called Pancami.The deities Brahma, Govinda, Rudra. Isvara andSadasiva are the five powers in charge of fiveacts - Creation, Protection, Destruction,Dissolution and Regeneration respectively. Theyare Panca Brahmas. The fifth among them isSadasiva "Paniamasya Brahmanah - SadasivaStri, Pancani," which means the consort of thefifth Brahma is Pancami who is none other thanVarahi. She is called "Kaivalyarupini" because sheis not different from Kaivalya. The five kinds ofMuktis are the Salokya, the Samipya, theSarupya, the Sayujya and the Kaivalya. The finalmukti is Kaivalya and Varahi is the bestower orKaivalya.6

The Varaha Parana says that the motherGoddesses are eight in number and includesYogesvari with them. It further says that theseMatrkas represent eight mental qualities which aremorally bad; accordingly Yogesvari representsKama or desire, Mahesvari Krodha, Vaisnavilobha or covetuousness, Brahmani mada or pride,Kaumari moha or illusion, Indrani, matsarya orfaultfinding, Yami or Camunda Paisunya or tale-

bearing. And Asuya, that is envy, a verydestructive human quality is controlled by goddeeVarahi.7

Varahi is a complex deity to understand.She occupies a very important position in differentcults. In Saktism Varahi occupies the highestposition of the commander-in-chief of LalitaParamesvari's army. In Tantric Saktism Varahipossesses a very powerful position. In BuddhismVarihi is called Vajra Varahi and is the queen ofGod Heruka who is combodiment of Sunya. InVaisnavism, the images of Varahi is representedwith Sankha, Chakra, Gada and Varada orAbhaya Mudra in her hands. In the tantric Saktismthe same Goddess is depicted with pot-belly andas holding matsya, manias and wine pot in thehands. While in Vaisnavism and Saktism She isshown standing or seated on either lotus pitha oron the Vahana of Mahisa or Mahisa's head orboar or lion or Garuda or Sesanaga, the samedeity in the Tantric Saktism is shown either seatedor standing exclusively on the Vahana of She-buffalo or corpse. It is very important to note that30 yantras and 30 mantras are prescribed forVarahi exclusively which indicates her power tobestow siddhi to aspirants and Sadhakas whoworship her sincerely and faithfully. Besides, theiconographic prescriptions of Varahi are detailedin the Agamas, Yamalas, Sutras, Tantras,Silpasastras, Puranas and the Buddhist texts.While explaining her different forms, attributes,vahanas and postures, these texts treat Varahi asSupreme Sakti, who is pure external Mulaprakrti.She is Supreme Female Energy.

To conclude it can be said that embodyingthe temple of Earth Goddess Varahi, the land ofPrachi Valley has become a place of greatpilgrimage.

Jayanti Rath is the Curator-in-charge, Numismatics,Orissa State Museum, Bhubaneswar.