Sambalpur is one of the biggest city of west Odisha and the place for the largest earthern dam Hirkund and one of the largest artificial dam in asia . It is a city which was described in the 2 nd century by ptolemy . It is a melting pot of odiya , telugu and maratha culture as the city has been conquered by the different dynasty kings from this people. It is mainly populated by the tribal population of the odisha . Maa Sambaleswari temple , Bimaleswar Baba Temple and Hirkund Dam are the famous tourist spots in this city .
Sambaleswari Temple :
This is the most famous temple in the western Odisha and the city sambalpur was named by the deity . This temple is the 2 nd most important temple in odisha after the Puri Jagannath Temple . Devotes come from the nearby state like Jharkhand , chattisgarh , Madhya Pradesh and Maharastra , telengana and andhra pradesh to worship here . This is a very old temple and dedicated to the deity Sambaleswari .
You should come to this temple in the evening time when sandhya arati(worship of the god in the evening time ) is going on . You can see big drumps and bell were used to welcome godess . This reminds me durga puja in bengal when large drums were played in the pandals .
This temple is opened from 6 am – 11:30 am and 3 pm – 7 :30 pm daily .
Bimaleswar Baba Temple :
Bimaleswar Baba Temple is the only leaning temple inside India . It has been build by the king of sambalpur Balaram Deva in the 17 th century . This temle is dedicated to god bimaleswar . You can see a snake with hood as the principle deity .
It is situated just beside the Mahanadi River and almost 23 km from the sambalpur city in huma village . This is also famous as the leaning temple of huma . From sambalpur you have to board the bus for the Dhama and get down in the huma bus stop . From there you have to hire a auto to reach the exact temple . From the bus stop , it is 2 km in distance .
The temple is opened from 6 am – 6 pm daily
Hirkund Dam :
Hirkund Dam is the longest earth dam in the world . It was build on the river Mahanadi . This is used for the Hydro power generation and flood management . This dam is all together 25 km long This dam was started building in the year 1947 and was completed in the year 1957 .
After making this dam , a huge land was submerged under water for making it’s reserve . This reservoir is 55 km long .
You can not walk above the dam but from a high land near the Gandhi statue get a birds eye views of the entire dam . There is a ropeway to reach here from ground . Hirkund Ropeway is open from the 10 am – 6 pm .
Foods in Sambalpur :
Foods in sambalpur are really spicy so before taste you should aware that . One thing I must say that hygiene in most of the hostels and restaurant are not good . so before you take any food be very cautious . If you can cook then it is the best option for taking food .
Best Time to visit Sambalpur :
Sambalpur is situated in the western Odisha near to the chattishgarh border . Weather here is very arid and there is high temperature in summer and cold temperature in winter . You should not visit this place in summer as frequently the temperature goes beyond 40 degree centigrade . I visited this place in summer when my face was just burned by the hot wind blowed in the city . Normal budget hotels were not equipped with air conditioner and only cooler . In this time of summer it is just unbearable heat . Winter is the best time to visit the city when temperature in this place is pleasant .
Summary :
Sambalpur is one the biggest and earliest city in odisha . This city has been famous for the age old maa sambaleswari temple , Hirkund dam and Bimaleswar baba temple (It is the only leaning temple in India). Sandhya arati in the sambaleswari temple and other local temple is really interesting to visit . This place has been mostly dominated by the tribal population of this area .
