Places to Visit in Jajpur - the Ancient Capital of Odisha

Jajpur or Jaipur? This is a question I was asked every time I told my friends and family that I was going to explore a new place in Odisha. I must also confess that even I was confused when I read the name for the first time and assumed it was a typo. However, what’s most interesting is that Jajpur has been around way longer than Jaipur and it’s time now to give Jajpur its rightful place in the history of India. This story from my five days stay at Jajpur covers the history of the place, and much much more including arts and crafts that the district is well known for, at least locally.

Things do in Jajpur, Odisha

You can also watch the video here as well on YouTube:

History of Jajpur

Jajpur is the ancient capital of Odisha after it was established in the 10th century by Jajati Keshari who also founded the Keshari dynasty. However, the legend of the town goes back much further back in time. The legend starts from time immemorial and it’s believed that the naval of Goddess Parvati fell here when she was cut into pieces by Lord Vishnu. This makes the temple the oldest part of the region and also one of the 51 shakti peethas in the world. 

Things to do in Jajpur

Temples of Jajpur

Jajpur is home to one of the most proponent Shakti Peetha in the world - Biraja Mata Temple. It’s believed that the navel of Mata Parvati fell here when Lord Vishnu cut her into pieces. The entire town of Jajpur grew around this temple and many believe that the history of the place starts here. Unlike other such prominent temples, Biraja Mata temple is very peaceful and you feel like you are actually visiting the home of the goddess itself. The priests are welcoming and patiently explain the story of the temple and there’s absolutely no rush unless you come on the festival days. I would recommend starting your Jajpur explorations from this temple itself. 

Biraja Mata Temple

After the Biraja Mata temple, head over to the Barahanatha Temple across the Baitarni river. When King Jajati founded the city, he settled many Brahmins from other parts of the country around the river and today we have some of the most important temples of the region around the river too. Barahanatha Temple was built in the 15-16th century and is dedicated to Lord Vishnu’s avatar Varaha. The temple is built in the typical Odia style and is painted white in colour. 

Barahanatha Temple

Barahanatha Temple

The Jagannatha Temple across the river is another prominent Vishnu temple in Jajpur. The temple is located right next to the main Dasasvamedha Ghat on the Baitarni river and that adds a beautiful vibe to the place. It’s a great place to come during sunset and watch the sun go down on the Baitarni River.

Jagannatha Temple

Buddhist Circuit in Jajpur

Odisha is famous for the Diamond Triangle of prominent ancient Buddhist sites - Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri. Out of these three, Ratnagiri and Udaygir are located in the Jajpur district itself and are easily accessible from Jajpur town. You can do both of these in one day as long as you start early in the morning.

Udayagiri

Start your explorations from Udaygiri which literally translates into Mountain of Rising Sun. This site was discovered only in the 1970s and excavations continue to unearth many mysteries of this bygone era. Currently, there are two sites - Udaygiri-I and Udaygiri-II and you must visit them both when you plan a trip there. Also, make sure that you carry water and a cap when you go there as it gets quite hot even early in the morning during winter too. There’s currently no entry fee for Udayagiri.

Udayagiri

Udayagiri

Ratnagiri

Ratnagiri is by far more famous than Udayagiri even though it’s relatively smaller in size. What it lacks in scale, it makes up for it in the intricate carvings, especially the iconic doorway. The doorway is actually one of the most photographed Buddhist sites in the world. 

Ratnagiri

Ratnagiri

Ratnagiri

These monuments were built from the 5th century onwards and continued till the 13th century. The region saw its golden age from the 7-10th Centuries. 

Arts and Crafts

Our story of exploring arts and crafts in Jajpur starts at Gopalpur - a small town of about 700 households where each home is connected with one form of art or other. We were welcomed by Alek Das who's a local singer who's spent all his life playing beautiful songs on an indigenous instrument called Kendra. He started when he was just 12 and now at 70, he's the last one of his kind in the neighbourhood. 

Alek Das playing Kendra

After a musical introduction to the village, we went off to explore the crafts there. the crafts in the Jajpur district can broadly be divided into four key ones:

1. Tussar Silk
2. Golden Grass
3. Terracotta
4. Stone carving

Gopalpur is the village where you can see the first three in action, while stone carvings are done at Suppapada near Ratnagiri. 

Gopalpur Village

Tussar Silk

Tussar Silk sarees are well-known across India and Gopalpur holds the GI tag for the same. It’s quite an achievement and you realise why when you visit the village. All the households in the town are involved in process of making silk and it’s great to see the entire community contributing to it. What’s even more interesting is that Jajpur is not just a leader in weaving, but also in the making of silk yarns. The village is keeping the tradition of hand weaving alive and that’s what makes Tussar Silk so unique. The sarees are a little bit more expensive but you know that these are made by the artisans with their hands. Apart from sarees, shawls and dupattas are also made with Tussar Silk. 

Silk yarn

Processing the silk yarn

Golden Grass

This was a completely new craft for me and this developed to meet the local needs for utilitarian products using locally available resources. The golden grass is called so because of its golden colour and it grows only for a few months following the monsoon season. It grows only in wild but typically that’s plentiful. Local Self Help Groups (SHGs) are involved in the process and help them in taking the product to the market as well. Typical products include baskets, plates, coasters and so on. The best place to see this would be Antia village. 

Festivals of Jajpur

Just like the rest of Odisha, numerous festivals are celebrated in Jajpur. The most important one is called Rajjo festival which takes place in the month of June. During the three days festival, the women take a break from all work, and men do everything, including cooking at home. Apart from that Maghe Parva is celebrated in April/ May.

I also attended a newer festival called Jajpur Mahotsav which takes place every year in the month of February. This five days festival invites some of India’s best artists to perform here and this year the line-up included Sunidhi Chauhan, Amit Trivedi, Sona Mohapatra, Shreya Ghosal and a host of other local artists. 

Jajpur Mahotsav

Jajpur Mahotsav

Watch the festival coverage on my YouTube channel:

Pro tip: Odia Food in Jajpur

While you are in Jajpur, do not miss out on eating some delicious Odia food at a popular restaurant called Odianee. You can get it at any local restaurant, and if you are lucky, you’ll get an invite to a local family too. This is what my meal looked like!

Odia food in Jajpur!

How to reach Jajpur?

Reaching Jajpur is quite easy. Jajpur is about 2 hours from Bhubhaneshwar in a taxi, though the time will depend on the time of the day as the highway can get busy at times. You can either fly into Bhubhaneshwar or come by train - the city is quite well connected.

Where to stay in Jajpur?

Jajpur is quite a small place and there aren’t many options to stay there right now. I recommend staying at Jajpur Road which is about 30-45 minutes from Jajpur. We stayed at Jajati Courtyard and I would wholeheartedly recommend staying there. The rooms are excellent, the food is good and the service is impeccable. Frankly, this was quite an unexpected treat so far away from a city.

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Disclaimer: I was in Jajpur on the invitation of HACT, Jajpur. All views expressed are my own and based on my personal experiences.