Gopalji Matha Temple, Sambalpur, Odisha

Gopalji Matha Temple, Sambalpur, Odisha

Gopalji Matha Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu, located in Sambalpur City in Sambalpur District in Odisha, India. The Temple is currently under the control of Endowment Department, Government of Odisha. The Temple is situated on the left bank of the river Mahanadi at Kamil Bazar.

History

Gopalji Matha Temple Complex was built by the saint prince Bansi Gopal, the third son of Madhukara Deva (1630-1650 CE), the fourth Chauhan ruler of Sambalpur. Bansi Gopal founded the Gopalji Matha and spent his whole life as its first Mahanta. He had constructed two temples in this Matha complex, one is Gopalji temple and the other is Bada Jagannath temple. It is currently under the control of Endowment Department, Government of Odisha.

The Temple

This temple is facing towards east. The temple consists of vimana and jagamohana. The vimana is square on plan and the jagamohana is oblong. The vimana and jagamohana of the temple follows the Khakhara pattern of architecture. The sanctum has two subsidiary lateral chambers on either sides opening to the oblong hall of the jagamohana of impoverished khakhara order. The Sanctum enshrines Lord Krishna with his consort Radha. The niches in the jangha portion of the wall houses several Vaishnavite images.

Bada Jagannath Temple:

The temple is situated inside the Gopalji Matha temple complex. It is a living temple and facing towards east. It is built on a raised platform and can be accessed through flight of steps on the eastern side. This temple consists of rekha vimana with a pradakshina patha and a flat roofed Jagamohana. The sanctum enshrines three images of Balabhadra, Jagannath and Subhadra. The niches on the exterior walls enshrines Krishna, Vishnu, Ganesha, Narasimha, Rudrani, Varaha, Rama, Parasurama and Vamana.

Festivals

Rathayatra, Dola Purnima, Rakhi Purnima, Kartika Purnima and Netrotsava, are the festivals celebrated here.

Connectivity

The Temple is located at about 1.5 Kms from Sambalpur Junction Railway Station, 2 Kms from Sambalpur Bus Stand and 3 Kms from Sambalpur Road Railway Station. The Temple is situated on the left bank of the river Mahanadi at Kamil Bazar. Sambalpur is located at about 14 Kms from Hirakud, 53 Kms from Jharsuguda, 62 Kms from Jharsuguda Airport, 79 Kms from Sonepur, 124 Kms from Balangir and 275 Kms from Bhubaneshwar.

Sambalpur is connected to the rest of Odisha and India by national highway – NH 53 / Economic Corridor 1 (EC1), a part of Asian Highway – AH 46 (Mumbai – Kolkata Highway). NH 55 connects with Cuttack and Bhubaneswar,  State Highway 15 connects with Sonepur, State Highway 10 (SH10) connects with Jharsuguda and Rourkela and the Biju Expressway connects Rourkela – Sambalpur – Jagdalpur.

Location