The Kapila Purana (ca. 11th century) is a Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 religious text. The text is considered as one of the 18 Upapurana

Upapurana

The Upapuranas are a genre of Hindu religious texts consisting of a large number of compilations differentiated from the Mahapuranas by styling them as secondary Puranas by using a disparaging prefix Upa...

s. It contains 21 chapters which mostly narrate glories about the puņyakṣetras (sacred places) of Utkala

Utkala Kingdom

Utkala Kingdom was located in the northern and eastern portion of the modern-day Indian state of Orissa. This kingdom was mentioned in the epic Mahabharata, with the names Utkala, Utpala, Okkal and Odra desha...

. It subsequently describes the greatness of Purusottama Kshetra, Viraja Kshetra

Biraja Temple

Viraja Temple or Viraja Kshetra , or Oddyana Peetha, , is one of the ancient Hindu temples located in the Jajpur district of Orissa, India. This present temple was built in 13th century. It is situated in the Jajpur township which is nearly 125 KM north from Bhubaneswar...

, Maiterya Vana

Konark

Konark is a small town in Puri district in the state of Orissa, India, on the Bay of Bengal, sixty-five kilometers from Bhubaneswar. It is the site of the 13th-century Sun Temple , built in black granite by King Narasimhadeva-I of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty. The temple is a World Heritage Site...

, and Ekamra Tirtha

Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, officially Odisha. The city has a long history of over 2000 years starting with Chedi dynasty who had Sisupalgarh near present-day Bhubaneswar as their capital...

. Sage Kapila is the main narrator of this Purana. He describes to king Shalyajit regarding the glorified virtue of Utkala Kingdom

Utkala Kingdom

Utkala Kingdom was located in the northern and eastern portion of the modern-day Indian state of Orissa. This kingdom was mentioned in the epic Mahabharata, with the names Utkala, Utpala, Okkal and Odra desha...

 (the present day coastal regions of Orissa

Orissa

Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

), which he reports as a conversation between sage Bharadvaja and the sages performing tapas

Tapas (Sanskrit)

Tapasya in Sanskrit means "heat". In Vedic religion and Hinduism, it is used figuratively, denoting spiritual suffering, mortification or austerity, and also the spiritual ecstasy of a yogin or tāpasá . In the Rigveda, the word is connected with the Soma cult...

(austerities) in Pushkar

Pushkar

Pushkar is a town in the Ajmer district in the state of Rajasthan, India. It is situated at 14 km North West from Ajmer at an average elevation of 510 metres , and is one of the five sacred dhams...

akshetra. It describes the Shiva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

, Durga

Durga

For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...

, Vishnu

Vishnu

Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....

 and Surya

Surya

Surya Suraya or Phra Athit is the chief solar deity in Hinduism, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...

 shrines in and around Orissa

Orissa

Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

. The Jnana yoga

Jnana yoga

Jyâna yoga or "path of knowledge" is one of the types of yoga mentioned in Hindu philosophies...

is described in the final chapter of this Purana.

External links

• Text in Sanskrit