Vaital Deul Temple, Bhubaneswar, Orissa India

 Dedicated to Goddess Chamundi (Kali), the 18th century Vaital Deul Temple, situated near Bindu Sarovar is an excellent example of Kalinga School of architecture. Vaital Deul temple is renowned for its rectangular shape deul (tower) and the sculptural beautification on its walls and tower. The tower at the right angle to the jagmohana (porch) is decorated with two chaitya windows, one having a carved figure of sun God Surya with his sisters Usha (Dawn) and Pratyusha (Dusk). The other one is carved with an image of Arjuna (third Pandava), driving a chariot of seven horses.

Vaital Temple in Bhubaneshwar is replete with the symbols of human sacrifice and steeped in some exclusive temple sculptures that exhibit eroticism. The temple is one of the most highly revered ones among the Hindus and a large number of devotees drop in to offer their prayers with offerings on some auspicious occasions.

This interesting 8th century temple is dedicated to Chamunda (Kali). She wears a necklace of skulls and is shown as the eight-armed slayer of the buffalo demon. Her necklace of skulls and the corpse she is sitting on are usually hidden by her robes. In her arms she holds a snake, a bow, a shield, a trident, a thunderbolt and an arrow with which she is piercing the neck of the demon, thus displaying the most terrifying aspect of the goddess Kali. Owl and a jackal, sits on a corpse. Her body, emaciated and reduced to skin and bones, is adorned with the garland of skulls. Her sunken eyes and shrunken belly and the cerie setting with a number of strange images filling the niches around the sanctum, present here in her terrible best.

A brief look at the Vaital Temple will show an extremely accomplished style of sculptural decoration. A slightly closer look will reveal some of the darker facets of the sculpture’s content, and the temple’s nature. The Tantric worship, which combined elements from certain sects of both Buddhism and Hinduism, is centered on the worship of ‘Shakti’, the female life force. It developed elaborate rituals involving magic spells, secret rituals and sacrificial offerings. The interior of the Vaital Temple’s inner sanctum is almost completely dark, in keeping with the esoteric rites believed to have been performed there.

The 15 niches, which adorn the interior wall around her, are also filled with a series of singularly strange images. In front of the entrance to the sanctum is a ‘four faced’ ‘linga’ adorned with unusual carvings. Next to it is a post, to which sacrificial offerings were tied. The entire atmosphere is, in the words of one specialist, disquieting. On the outer, eastern face of the tower, there is an extremely fine image of the sun god, Surya, with a sensitive and beautiful face. He is flanked by ‘Usha’ and ‘Pratyusha’, twin sisters of the dawn, while ‘Aruna’ drives his chariot.

The entrance of Vaital Deul temple is decorated with a four-faced linga with significant carvings.  The sanctum sanctorum houses the idol of eight-armed Chamundi Devi adorned with a garland of skulls is seated on a corpse flanked by a jackal and an owl. Each arms of the deity holds a snake, a bow, a shield, a sword, a trident, a thunderbolt , an arrow and a neck of a demon. Large number of devotees visit Vaital Deul temple to offer prayers.