Leaning Temple of Huma

01Why it leans

Nobody knows for certain. The main temple and the smaller shrines in the compound all tilt, each in its own direction, yet none has fallen in three centuries of monsoon floods. The likeliest reason is the rock bed beneath, which may have shifted under the river’s pressure; some say the builders meant it. The temple was raised by the Chauhan rajas of Sambalpur, and the Sambalpur tradition names Raja Baliar Singh.

02The kudo fish

Below the temple the Mahanadi runs deep, and big fish called kudo crowd to the ghat when pilgrims throw puffed rice and sweets. They are held to belong to Bimaleswara; no one fishes them. On Shivaratri a fair spreads along the bank, and devotees walk the parikrama of a temple that seems to be bowing to the river.

The life of this place