Vedvyas

It is Situated on the confluence of the rivers Sankha, Koel and Saraswati. Vedavyas is not only a place of natural beauty but also considered a ‘Tirtha’,a place of religious sanctity. A vedic Ashram and a school on the lines of Gurukula Ashram are the added attractions of the place. Tradition has it that Vyasadeva, the reputed sage lived here and composed the great epic, Mahabarata. There are three temples here, two dedicated to Lord Shiva and one to Rama. An ideal picnic spot, it is 5 kms from panposh and 15 kms from Rourkela. Connected by an all weather road, regular bus service is available from rourkela.

The Legend of  Vedvyas

It is known from the Topics that the hermitage of sage ‘Parasara’ was situated on the bank of the Trine confluence of ‘Shankh’, ‘Koili’ and ‘Saraswati’. The sage use to go to the other side of the river to worship Lord Shiva every day. One day he saw the boatman’s young daughter. He was enraptured by her beauty. He took her as his wife. A son named ‘Krishna Dwipayana ‘was born to her. Later he was called “Vedvyas”.

A Holy Place Of  Devotion

was the famous author of ‘Mahabharata’ and eighteen other epics. The birthplace of Vedvyas has been commemorated as a sacred place of pilgrimage. A cave that existed on a hill in the middle of the river of ‘Shankh’ was called the hermitage of ‘Vyas’. It was also called the “Vyasa Cave”. As a result of erosion the cave is now inaccessible.

People believe that a tunnel connected the cave with a river. It was called “Vyasa Kund”. It lies behind the “Sankirtana Mandap”. River Brahmani was formed by the confluence of the rivers Shankha, Koel and Saraswati. The colour of the water of Shankh at the confluence is whitish. The water of Koili’s is somewhat black but that of Saraswati is sweet and transparent. The tringular plot of land lying between Shankh and ‘Koili’ is known as Yamuna Plateau (‘Dhipa’).

The original name of Vedvyas was “Parasara Munda”. The hill adjacent to the river Brahmani is known as “Mahavir hill”. The hill lying to the east of the river is called the “Parasara hill”. The northern hill and northeastern hills are called as the ‘Brahmani’ and ‘Gautami hill’ respectively. There is a cluster of small hills in Shankh. People believed that these are the wounds of ‘Indra’ who was cursed for his evil deeds. The Vyas cave lies in the middle of these hills.

An Abode of  Nine Temples

There are nine temples between Vyas Kunda and Vyas gumpha. They are – ‘Sri Chandrasekhar Mandir’, ‘Sri Raghunath Mandir’, ‘Sri Durga Mandir’, ‘Sri Hanuman Mandir’, ‘Jagannatha Mandir’, ‘Sri Balunkeshwara Mandir’, ‘Sri Biswanath Mandir’ and ‘Saraswati Mandir’. They’re also many small temples surrounded by dense forests.

For hundred of years. Lord Shiva was being worshipped here under the open sky. Now a beautiful temple has been constructed. The ‘Shiva Lingam’ is made of soft and precious black stone. But the Balunkeshwara temple is oldest temple of this area.

The Saraswati temple is situated on the West Coast of river Saraswati. Sri Dwarikanathji has constructed this temple recently. The Saraswati water pool was constructed at the source of river Saraswati in 1950. The Vedvyas Trust Board is managing the Vedvyas pilgrimage.

There is heavy rush for funeral rites in the confluence of the rivers and facilities are also available for such funeral rites. In Vedvyas a stone is kept in a pot which is floating on the water. This stone had touched by Ram during the making of Ram Setu.

Thousand of pilgrims come to the holy place every day to solemnise marriages, celebrate thread ceremonies and such other rituals. Every year thousands of devotees worship Vyasa Dev on the Full moon day of ‘Ashad’. Every year a fortnight long ‘Shivaratri’ is celebrated for 9 days with Grand Mela. Those who take part in the ‘Jagara Yatra’ can realise the importance of the place.