Barunei Hill is located in Khordha district of the Indian state of Odisha. The length of the Barunei hill is about 7km and breadth is about 800m.  A scenic spot 32 km from Bhubaneswar, Barunai attracts thousands of visitors, all round the year, who are drawn to it by shadowy mango groves, the perrenial springacalled ‘Swarga Ganga’ , and the temple of Barunai, the presiding deity set on top of the hill.

The hillock of Barunei has many legends associated with it. It is believed that Lord Ram lived here some days at the time of his Unknown living. The stone on which God Ram was lived is known as Shree Ram Stone (Shree Ram Pathar). One day after cooking, Goddess Sita washing the pots and told “till the earth is there the water of this place will not dry”. And it is true that even in summer days the water of this place will not dry.

The major attraction of Barunei Hill is the Barunei Temple. It is located at about 150 ft high of the Barunei hill which is very near to Khordha of Odisha. The deities of the Barunei Temple are Goddess Barunei and Goddess Karunei. Both the deities are regarded as manifestations of Goddess Shakti. The goddesses were worshipped as the family deity of the Bhoi dynasty of Khurda and the temple is believed to have been built by the founder of Bhoi Dynasty King Rama Chandra Dev-I,around the year 1590 AD. King Ramachandra Deva-I, established Khurda as his new capital and named it “Jagannathpurkatak”. The deities were revered by the Paika’s – the warrior clan of erstwhile kingdom of Kalinga- modern day Odisha.

There are about 88 steps you have to cross to go to the Barunei and Karunei temple. The two idols of the two deity of this temple are made of Black granite stone (Kalamuguni Pathar). The height of each idol is about 18 inch. The Goddesses are offered a kind of pancake made up of rice, lentils and coconut covered with leaves- in Odia its called Pitha and rice cooked with lentils called- Khichdi in Odia. The two idols are wearing battle dresses. There is a story behind this. The two goddesses are considered as the protector of the kingdom of Khurda and are very powerful. It’s alleged that the Muslim invaders undermined the powers of the goddesses by sacrificing a cattle in the temple premise, which helped them capture Khurda in 1606. The act was repeated by the British to suppress the Paika rebellion, when they smeared their weapons with the blood of a bullock.

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maa_Barunei_Temple

http://www.orissa-tourism.com/web/Attractions/NatureAdventure/Barunei.aspx

https://odishatour.in/barunei-temple-khordha/

https://odishatourguide.com/temple_post/barunei-templekhurda/