(Part 1)
Narsinghnath has constantly drawn the attention and consideration of scholars belonging to diverse disciplines such as sociology, history, archaeology, art, and culture for a very long time. The ground is that it continues to offer novel information partly because various pieces of facts exposed in this field compel us to rethink and reorganize and partly because the ever-growing intricacy in the political landscape of west Orissa which encourage additional examination to reconfigure certain images and symbols for the purpose of socio-historical reconstruction and rebuilding of this place. The present paper is an endeavour to understand and appreciate the mode and probable reasons of assimilation of a local deity called Narsinghnath (Little Tradition) in the wider Hindu society and culture (Great Tradition) in the modern west Orissa i.e. erstwhile Chauhan Rajya (state or kingdom).
In the present context, we have relied largely on the material and substance from the oral tradition accessible in the local areas, which sustains this process of assimilation. Generally, historians have shown slight regard for the oral tradition and in only some places, they treat the claims of the oral evidence rather cavalierly. Nevertheless, it is recommended here that oral narratives like myth and legend are manufactured and attached to the Narsinghnath Tirtha (pilgrimage) to establish and to validate the faith of the numerically dominant aborigines with the Hindu epic tradition and thereby the larger Hindu religious tradition (Great Tradition). Accordingly, aesthetic consideration plays relatively an insignificant role in the present study.
The area of our study is Narsinghnath Tirtha. The shrine of Narsinghnath is bounded by rich jungles and is situated about 32 kms. south-west of Padampur town. It is quaintly situated at the foot of a hill of similar name Narsinghnath, which is an essential part of the Gandhagiri or Gandhamardan hill range. This hill range rises from 2000 to 3000 feet in height and reaches its highest point 3234 feet in the peak of Narsinghnath hill. This Tirtha is in the former Borasambar zamindari under the previous Patna Rajya i.e. Patnagarh. Afterward, it became a part of erstwhile Sambalpur Rajya.
One branch of the Gandhamardan hill range runs along the southern frontier of the ex-Borasambar zamindari and separates Bargarh district from the district of Bolangir.
Narsinghnath temple is positioned on the northern side of the Gandhamardan hill range inside Bargarh district. On its southern slope almost at the foot of the hill is Harisankar / Hari-Sankar, another place of pilgrimage. A difficult path links Harisankar and Narsinghnath across thickly forested mountainous tract. Perennial brooks ooze out on both sides of this hill range. From the northern crest of this range springs a famous stream called Papa-Harni Nala, sequentially called Kapil-Dhar, Bhim-Dhar, and Chal-Dhar and descends to the foot of the hill where Narsinghnath Pitha is situated. On the southern slope, a similar stream named Papa-Nasini (the destroyer of sin) issues from the crest from the range and descends to the foot of the hill where HariSankar Pitha is located. Another range branches off to the west of Narsinghnath running first north-south and then north-east near Jagdalpur in the state of Chhattisgarh where it is broken by the river Ang / Ong. Another range runs eastward to Tal and then to the northeast forming the boundary between the Bargarh district of Orissa and the Raipur district of Chhattisgarh (Senapati and Sahu, 1971, 1968:5,483-84; Senapati and Mahanti, 1971:9). In view of this, it may be understood that Borasambar zamindari was advantageously situated from political, military otherwise security point of view.
It would not be out of context to point out here that Gandhagiri is very popular in the literature of history, mythology, culture and various Puranas of Hindu Great Tradition. The Gandhamardan of the Ramayana may as well be identified with this range of hills (Senapati and Sahu, 1968:5; Senapati and Mahanti, 1971:9). The tradition ascribes the construction of Narsinghnath temple on Gandhagiri to Vaijala Dev-I (1410-1430 A.D.). An inscription of 1413 A.D. found in this temple attests it. Vaijala Dev-I is the fourth Chauhan ruler of Patnagarh and is supposed to be the builder of Narsinghnath temple whereas his queen Durlabha Devi is said to have built the Hari-Sankar temple. The former is dedicated to Lord Visnu (Hari) while the latter is dedicated to Lord Siva (Hara). Nevertheless, according to the oral narrative prevalent in the local area, Raja Ramai Dev (1360-1385 A.D.), the founder of the Chauhan dynasty / kingdom in Patnagarh is said to have built these temples.
Chitrasen Pasayat is an OAS and researcher on culture of Odisha