Koṅgoda
The dynasty held the coastal strip between the Mahanadi delta and the Ganjam country, with Chilika lake at its centre. Their copper-plate charters give a genealogy beginning with a founder said to have been born from a rock — śailodbhava, from which the family name comes — which is an origin story of a type common among dynasties without an established lineage to claim.
Śaśāṅka of Gauḍa held overlordship over them in the early seventh century, and after his death Mādhavavarman II asserted independence and performed the horse sacrifice.
Building
The temples at Mukhalingam and the early shrines around Bhubaneswar belong to the period in which this dynasty and its neighbours were establishing the Odishan temple style — the Paraśurāmeśvara temple at Bhubaneswar, of the seventh century, is the earliest well-preserved example and is generally placed in the Śailodbhava period.
The dynasty was displaced in the eighth century by the Bhauma-Karas, who took the northern part of their territory.
Further reading
- Hawley, John Stratton. A Storm of Songs: India and the Idea of the Bhakti Movement. Harvard University Press, 2015
- Kramrisch, Stella. The Hindu Temple. Motilal Banarsidass, 1976
- Michell, George. The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms. University of Chicago Press, 1988
- Basham, A. L. The Wonder That Was India. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1954
- Kulke, Hermann. A History of India. Routledge, 2004
See also
This entry was last revised on 1 August 2026.