Berhampur: A stone weighing 2 kg fell from the ‘Singhadwara Gumuta’ of the Lord Jagannath temple at Khallikote in Odisha’s Ganjam district, raising questions on the safety of the 294-year-old shrine and thousands of devotees visiting it.
This is the second such incident of a stone falling in the historic temple within two years. A huge piece of stone weighing 7 kg had fallen from the opposite of the same place two years ago. A lion idol made of stone had also fallen near the main temple on the north side four months ago.
A ‘Baraha’ idol on the southern side also broke when the bamboo supports were removed. The sculptures on the walls of the temple are in a dilapidated state. Large size holes have developed on the walls of the Radha Krushna temple and Jagyan Narayan Math which have become the safe abode of poisonous snakes and the servitors are scared to enter the temple.
Speaking about the latest incident, some locals including Pramod Kumar Patnaik, secretary of Baristha Nagarik Mancha, Purnachandra Behera, president of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Janakalyan Trust and advocate Arun Kumar Singh said the temple had turned unsafe and was on the verge of collapse. Terming the incident as ‘unfortunate’, they requested the temple authorities to take immediate measures to start repair and restoration works, failing which they threatened to resort to agitation.
Shree Jagannath Temple at Khallikote is the second largest Jagannath temple after the Jagannath Temple in Puri. Though many ministers and officers of the former BJD government and ministers including Bibhuti Bhushan Jena and Gokula Nanda Mallick of the present BJP government visited the Khallikote temple recently, no action has been taken for preservation of this historic temple.
As per records, the construction of the temple was started in 1730 CE by King Jagannath Mardaraja I and completed by his grandson King Jagannath Mardaraja II in 1868.
The height of this temple is 108 ft and is made of red sand stones. It has three chambers like Puri temple, including Garvagriha, Jagamohana and Natamandapa. Laksmi, Madanmohan, Sarasvati, Bamana, Nrsimha, Dolagovinda are also worshipped on the temple premises.
All other rituals and festivals are observed according to the tradition of Jagannatha temple in Puri. The Rath Yatra is also celebrated here with much pomp and grandeur every year.