Sri Agni Gangamaa Temple

Jai maa agnigangaa maa.It is a famous shrine where many people come from Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh along with people from Odisha also. The legend says Devi is worshipped from centuries whereas the temple is a new one. Every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday the temple draws a large crowd from nearby area. Dussehra in October and Chaitra parva is most famous in March–April. The nearest railhead is Rayagada. People who have unfulfilled wishes come here and stay for many days for worship. History Behind Goddess Majhi Ghariani of Rayagada : Of the many places where history and myth embrace in love Rayagada in Koraput district is one. This small township nestles in the arms of green mountains. River Nagavali kisses her hem and plays about in a half circle. The J.K.Pur Paper Mill ten kilometers away and the Jeypore SugarFactory in her courtyard keep her still nights throbbing with life. Rayagada appeared as far back as the reign of King Samudragupta who tried to claim her. The scars of these battles are still there at today's Champikota, a thirty minutes' ride from the town. Such is her ancient lore. Such is her modern tale. Goddess Majhighariani (Also known as Majji Gouri) is evidently the prime deity here. She commands the soulful population. The origin of the Goddess is associated with a historical event dating back to the fourth century A.D. The Orissa Gazetteer says, Samudragupta invaded Mahakantara, the modern Koraput and Kalahandi tracts. King Vyaghraraj of Mahakantar braved the battle with success. People today believe that he did it with the grace of the Goddess. The Goddess continued to be worshipped since then as a form of Shakti, energy incarnate. Shakti and the mother figure are synonymous in the mind of a Hindu. Therefore, almost in no time the Goddess was accepted as the universal mother. Mr. N.C.Padhi, a Teacher of G.C.D High School Rayagada has done copious research on the deity.[2][3]He quotes the Orissa Gazetteer that “in the fourteenth century the Silavansi king Viswanath Dev chose Rayagada as his capital and shifted his headquarters to that new town. He built an enormous mud fort at devotion of the entire Rayagada the ruins of which are still seen. Viswanath Dev also constructed rows of temples along the river Nagabali and the ruined temple called Majhi Ghariani is also attributed to the Goddess right in the middle of his palace and the temple was raised later at that very spot. Hence, the name Majhi Ghariani, or the one seated in the central room. The construction of the temple (The structure as we see today) is of very recent origin, say, about forty years. At that time the railways were building a bridge over the Nagabali at a stone's throw from the shrine because at this point the river is a deep and narrow gorge going down around a hundred and odd feet. To the surprise of the builders, the massive piers gave way as many as three times. And then the head Pujari one night had a dream in which the deity commanded that her temple be built first. It was raised forthwith. Legend goes that the bridge too could be completed afterwards with no further difficulty.

Best peace and soulful place around it