Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

3031 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
High medieval · Hindu · India

Upper Bagh Devi Temple

Kulada, Ganjam district, Odisha · 19.9693°, 84.6239°

Bagh Devi (Byaghra Devi), a form of ShaktiUndetermined
Sacred since
1000 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
dating unrecorded
Undetermined

History & significance

A hilltop Shakti shrine at Kulada in Ganjam district, about 8 km from Bhanjanagar, long associated with the Odia poet Upendra Bhanja. A second shrine was later built at the foot of the hill so that pilgrims unable to climb could worship.

Sthala katha — the traditional account

What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.

Local tradition holds that three sisters divided the region by hurling vessels and a temple was raised wherever one fell, the third having sunk from sight, and that the goddess appeared to Upendra Bhanja in a dream telling him to build the shrines.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-28 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Undetermined