Eastern Ganga Dynasty

The Eastern Ganga dynasty (ପୂର୍ବ ଗଙ୍ଗ ବଂଶ), also called the Gangas of Kalinga, ruled parts of eastern India from about the 5th century CE and, in its imperial phase from the 11th to the 15th century, controlled most of present-day Odisha. Its kings built two of India's best-known temples, the Jagannath Temple at Puri and the Sun Temple at Konark, and under them Odia emerged as a written language of the state. Britannica describes the Ganga period as a golden age of Odisha.

Who were the Eastern Gangas?

The dynasty had two phases.

• Early Eastern Gangas (c. 5th to 11th century). Their rule in Kalinga is traced to Indravarman I, who is said to have defeated a Vishnukundin king around 498 CE and ruled from Kalinganagara, generally identified with Mukhalingam in present-day Andhra Pradesh. For several centuries they were a regional power in southern Kalinga.
• Imperial Eastern Gangas (11th to 15th century). From the late 11th century the dynasty expanded north into Utkala (central and coastal Odisha) and became the dominant power on the east coast, with its capital eventually at Kataka (Cuttack).

Major rulers of the imperial Ganga line

Reign dates come from Britannica, UNESCO and the standard dynastic lists; sources differ by a year or more for most rulers. Britannica gives Anantavarman Chodaganga's reign as 1078 to 1147, while other references give 1077 to 1150.

Anantavarman Chodaganga and the Jagannath Temple

Anantavarman Chodaganga came to the throne as a child, with support from his Chola relatives through his mother; his name combines "Choda" (Chola) and "Ganga". During a long reign he extended Ganga power from the Ganga (Ganges) river in the north to the Godavari in the south, according to Britannica, with Cuttack as a centre of government.

He is credited with beginning the present Jagannath Temple at Puri, the great temple of the deity who became the focus of Odia religious and political life. See the Jagannath Temple page for its history and rituals.

Anangabhima Deva III: the king as Jagannath's deputy

Anangabhima Deva III (1211 to 1238) took a step that shaped Odisha's political culture for centuries. He proclaimed Jagannath the real ruler of the kingdom and called himself the god's rauta (deputy or servant). Later kings of Odisha kept this idea, and the Gajapati king's role as the first servant of Jagannath survives today in rituals such as the sweeping of the chariots during Rath Yatra. He also faced attacks from the rulers of Bengal and is credited with work on the Puri temple and with strengthening Cuttack.

Narasimhadeva I and the Konark Sun Temple

Narasimhadeva I (1238 to 1264, the dates given by UNESCO) was the most militarily ambitious Ganga king. He took the offensive against the Muslim rulers of Bengal in the 1240s, pressing as far as their territory around Lakhnauti, at a time when much of northern India was under the Delhi Sultanate.

He is best remembered as the builder of the Sun Temple at Konark, conceived as a colossal stone chariot of the sun god and generally dated to about 1250. UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 1984. Some historians link the adoption of the royal title Gajapati ("lord of elephants") by Odisha's kings to his reign. Read more about the Konark Sun Temple.

Language, religion and administration

• Odia as a written language. The Urajam inscription of 1051 CE, issued in the Ganga period, is generally cited as the earliest inscription in Old Odia, and Odia inscriptions become common under the imperial Gangas. Sanskrit remained the language of formal grants, and Telugu also appears in inscriptions from the southern territories. See the history of the Odia script.
• Religion. The Gangas patronised both Shaiva and Vaishnava shrines. Under the imperial kings the cult of Jagannath became central to royal ideology.
• Coins. The Gangas issued small gold coins (fanams) marked with a bull and with regnal year numbers.

Ganga architecture

Ganga-period temples are among the finest examples of the Kalinga style of temple architecture, with its curvilinear rekha deula towers and pyramidal-roofed halls. Besides Puri and Konark, the Gangas are associated with temples at Mukhalingam, their early capital. For the older Bhubaneswar temple tradition from which Ganga builders drew, see the Lingaraj Temple.

How did the Ganga dynasty end?

The last ruler of the main line, Bhanudeva IV, lost power around 1434 to 1435 when his minister Kapilendra Deva seized the throne and founded the Suryavamsi Gajapati dynasty. Britannica dates Kapilendra's reign from 1435 to 1466. Branches of the Ganga family survived as local rulers, notably at Paralakhemundi, into modern times.

Timeline

Related on Odiapedia

• Jagannath Temple, Puri
• Konark Sun Temple
• Brief history of Odisha
• Odisha maritime history
• Odisha timeline
• Odisha at a glance