Tara Tarini Temple

The Tara Tarini Temple crowns the Kumari hills above the Rushikulya river in Odisha, and is dedicated to sister goddesses Tara and Tarini, worshipped as forms of Adi Shakti. Puranic legend identifies it as the Sthana pitha where the breasts of Sati fell when Vishnu dismembered her body.

The sanctum holds two stone faces of the goddesses adorned with gold and silver ornaments, and an image of the Buddha, reflecting the shrine's role as a cradle of the Buddhist Tara cult. Hindi and Odia traditions present the goddess as the patron of ancient Kalinga and of merchants who sailed to Java and Sumatra.

The nine hundred and ninety-nine stone steps climbing the hill are said to have been paid for by a merchant saved from shipwreck. Each spring the Chaitra Jatra draws crowds who bring their children for the auspicious first tonsure.