Kulada

Kulada lies among the hills of southern Odisha and was the fortified capital of the Bhanja rulers of Ghumusar. The hill shrine of Byaghra Devi and the temple of Jagannath reflect the religious life of the old royal seat. Here the worship of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra became associated with the patronage of the Bhanja house.

A regional account places the installation of the three deities at Kulada under Pratap Bhanja around 1600. In the eighteenth century Krishna Bhanja built a Jagannath temple and resisted both French and British forces seeking influence in Ghumusar. Kulada remained the seat of the Bhanja chiefs until British troops occupied it in 1835. Its fort and temples preserve the memory of a local dynasty whose authority endured in the hills long after larger powers had reached the coast.