A brief Introduction to Kulta Cast :
Kultas belong to a great socio-economic group because Jagati and Sarsara have been a seat of Vaishnavism and Saivism from hoary past. There is one shrine at Sarsara dedicated to Lord Baidyanath. Near the village Jagati at Gandharadi is situated the famous twin temples of Lord Nilamadhaba and Lord Siddheswara exactly similar to each other. Such type of twin temples constructed on a common platform are seen nowhere in the medieval period. Nilamadhaba temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu whereas Siddheswara temple is dedicated to Lord Siva. These twin temples exhibit a harmonious coexistence of Saivism along with Vaishnavism. On the basis of the detailed analysis of structural and sculptural features, it becomes clear that these temples may be dated back to the later half of the eighth or first half of the ninth century AD (Senapati and Kuanr, 1983:379-80; Panda, 2004:22). What we want to suggest here is that Kultas belong to a glorious tradition.
The famous twin-temples of Gandharadi, otherwise called Hari-Hara temple and the archaeological remains found in its vicinity speak of the past glory of the region. The significance of the Gandharadi temples lies in the fact that they represent the co-existence of the two major religious faiths of west Orissa during that period. Religious synthesis between Saivism and Vaishnavism achieved a noteworthy success in this place during the eighth-ninth century AD. Thus, historically speaking, Kultas have been associated with a glorious religion-cultural tradition although their principal deity is Ramachandi. It was the period when Lord Vishnu elicited great reverence like Lord Siva in Jagati. The above analysis suggests that in Jagati a great civilization flourished since at least eighth century AD (Sahu and others, 1981:131; Senapati and Kuanr, 1983:33, 134, 379-80; Behera, 1991:310-11; Panda, 2004:22). History of Surnames : The surname of four Kulta families given as dowry to patna Raja were Pradhan, Sahu, Naik and Biswal. Besides that Bhoi title is also found among the Kultas (Senapati and Mahanti, 1971:115; Senapati and Kunar, 1983:63). In the present state of our knowledge, we cannot say convincingly the precise time and the regime when and by whom these Kultas families were offered to the Raja of Patnagarh, who gave enough boasting to the Kultas and Dumals so that the agricultural situation of Patnagarh could be improved and enriched.
