The Arun Stambha in the temple’s Singha was earlier in front of the corner temple. The Marhattas brought it and installed it in Singhdu. Its height is 11 feet 4 inches. This pillar is attached to a huge domed palm tree. which has 16 angles.
Talking about Odisha without Jagannath Temple and Konark Temple would seem pointless. Therefore, whether it is history or culture, the talk of Jagannath temple and Lord Jagannath comes up. Many unknown questions also come to mind. One such question is the Arun Stambha.
The huge pillar in front of Jagannath temple is called Arun Stambha. which is made of one stone. After the fall of the Konark temple, the Marhattas brought it from Konark and installed it in front of the shrine. When he saw, he said, where would such a huge stone of black sapphire stone have been collected?
Researcher Dr. Surendra Mishra’s research had to be based on references. According to Mishra, stone was collected from Delang, Tapang and Nilgiris in Baleshwar district for the construction of big temples like Puri, Konark, Lingaraj temples. It was brought to places like Bhasai Puri, Ekamar and Konark in Vela river water.
You will be surprised to know that the person who was contracted to transport stones from the Nilgiris at that time took 3077 million gold only as an advance. Arrangements may have been made later to collect better quality stones from the nearby hills. According to the research, 342 people went around and picked stones in Odisha’s Kerandimal, Aragarh, Vishnath Pahar, Jagted, Tapangmal, Baneswar and Nilgiris to collect quality stones. Later, it was floated on a raft in the nearby river and taken to the construction site. It used to cost 110 maunds of gold to bring a stone from a hill.
As Nilgiris is a remote place, it is assumed that more stones were collected from Delang, Tapang and other areas. But the stone for the Arun Pillar is said to have been collected from Delang Vashnath Mundia.
Now when you travel by train, you will see this hill next to the motor station after Khurdroad. This is the hill from which the stone for the Arun Pillar was removed.
