Maa Dhamarai Temple – Dhamara

 

Maa Dhamarai Temple is located at Dhamara a small coastal village in the Bhadrak district of Odisha State.

Goddess Dhamarai is an incarnation of Goddess Shakti.

This temple was constructed in the Kalinga Style of architecture.

There are several folk tales and legends concerning the deity and the temple. According to one of the historical legends, one merchant namely Dhaneswar who often traded with the Singhalies (Sri Lanka) had brought a deity namely "Pashana Mangala" from Sri Lanka and had established the same at Dhamara on his way back home. The deity later came to be known as Maa Dhamarai.

 

According to one of the folktales Maa Dhamrai had five sisters and was residing at a place called "Satabhaya". Her five sisters were carnivorous in contrast to the purely vegetarian Maa Dhamrai. This outraged her sisters and pushed her deep into the sea. Floating on the water Maa Dhamarai came towards Chandinipala and is believed to have been caught in the fishing net of one Sanatana Dalai and Bulei Behera who had rescued her and started worshiping keeping her in their house. Later on, it is believed that on the same night, the queen of the then King of Kanika, Sailendra Narayan Bhanjadeo saw a dream where in Maa Dhamarai ordered her to build a temple.

 This temple was built during the 19^th century.

Temple Timings

6.30 am to 1.30 pm

3.00 pm to 9.30 pm

How to reach the Temple

62 km from Bhadrak

Nearby Temples

Budang, Sri BiranchiNarayan Temple – 46 km

Aradi, Akhandalamani Mahadev Temple – 50 km

Aharapada, Maa Bhadrakali Temple – 54 km.