Ratha Saptami, Kalinga’s Sun Worship Rooted in Srikakulam

Visakhapatnam: The Kalinga Empire encompassing present-day north Andhra and south Odisha, has been known from ancient times for its deep-rooted tradition of ‘Surya upasana’ or Sun worship.

Unlike many regions where solar worship remained symbolic, it developed in Kalinga as an organised religious system supported by royal patronage, temple institutions, ritual calendars and priestly communities.

This tradition finds some of its clearest historical expressions in the Srikakulam region, which functioned as a major Saura centre under several dynasties, particularly the Eastern Gangas.

According to well-known epigraphist Bishnu Mohan Adhikari, the rulers of Kalinga followed the Pañca-devata system, granting Surya a prominent position alongside Siva and Vishnu. Dynasties such as the Matharas, Sailodbhavas and Eastern Gangas were not only devotees of the Sun God but active patrons of Saura Brahmanas, supporting them through land grants, ritual endowments and festival-linked donations.

This patronage, Adhikari notes, was institutional rather than occasional.

The Sumandala copper plate grant records the Kalinga ruler Dharmaraja describing himself as Sahasrarasmi-pada-bhakta, a devotee of the thousand-rayed Sun. Another inscription dated 636 CE records an Eastern Ganga king Indravarman granting land to Saura Brahmanas on the occasion of Ratha Saptami (Tila Saptami), directly linking royal authority with a major solar festival, says Adhikari.

The Srikakulam region occupies a central place in Kalinga’s solar geography. “Arasavalli, regarded as one of the oldest Sun temples of Kalinga and earlier than Konark, stood close to Srimukhalingam, the political and religious nucleus of the Eastern Gangas,’’ Adhikari said.

While Srimukhalingam is renowned for the Madhukeshvara temple, the presence of Dvadasa Surya carvings within the complex points to a strong Saura presence alongside Saiva traditions.

Epigraphist Bishnu observes that early Kalinga maintained a balanced religious landscape where Saura and Saiva institutions functioned simultaneously.

A notable feature of the Arasavalli complex is its ancient Indra Pushkarini, constructed during the reign of Indravarman. He explained that such ritual tanks were integral to solar worship and purification rites.

The iconography of the Arasavalli Surya driving the seven-horse chariot closely follows classical Kalinga sculptural conventions.

Two inscriptions from Arasavalli, dated February 02 1147 CE and March 24, 1148 CE, issued during Kumbha Amavasya with Ganga-Snana Yoga and Visuva Sankranti, record grants by local Soura kamava nayaka under Eastern Ganga authority.

These records, said Adhikari, demonstrated equal patronage to Saura and Saiva traditions, while also prioritising Saura-mana (solar calendar) over lunar reckoning.

When Langula Narasimha Deva built the Konark Sun Temple in the 13th Century, it marked the monumental culmination of a long-established Kalinga solar tradition, deeply rooted in Srikakulam and the Eastern Ganga legacy.