Odi: ସମ୍ବଲପୁର sambalapura
‘City of Samaleswari’ [Hirakhanda] City/District, Odisha
Goddess Samalei/Samaleswari/Samlesiri is the patron deity of the city, the district and region.
It is an ancient city mentioned by Ptolemy, the 2ndC Greek geographer, as a centre for diamond production.
The 26km Hirakud Dam near Sambalpur, is one of the longest dams in the world and forms a 743 km2 reservoir with banks 640 km long. When the dam was built (in 1956) 200 temples were submerged.
50 of these have survived and re-emerge every summer, to the delight of divers, historians and archaeologists.
For related place names see Indian Place names and Odisha place names.
