Bhubaneswar: The Odisha chapter of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) on Tuesday said that the heritage well near the 13th century protected Ananta Vasudeva temple has been filled up and concrete platforms are being made after landfilling the area.
The plot adjoining the Ananta Vasudeva temple was earmarked for shifting the kitchen complex, which at present is adjoining the temple. The well water was used in the cooking of the Prasad prior to the days of piped water supply.
It said both the ASI and the NMA have been repeatedly demanding the shifting of the Roshaghara outside the prohibited zone. The then Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) V Vidyavathi, during her visit in February 2022, had expressed concern over the threat to the monument from the fire and smoke emanating from the kitchen located just about 2.5 metres from the main shrine.
Apart from the intricately carved temple walls, there are two rare inscriptions placed near the kitchen. While giving its NOC to the Ekamra Kshetra Heritage Development Project, the NMA too had recommended that the kitchen should be shifted to an appropriate location outside the complex.
Demands for shifting the kitchen have been made time and again by INTACH for over a decade. There have been multiple occasions when the temple kitchen – previously a thatched roof structure which has now been replaced by asbestos – has caught fire. There are 20 wood fired chullahs inside the kitchen which are owned by 25 Suar Nijog families. The making and sale of the Prasad in the adjacent Ananda Bazar is the bread earner of nearly 700 Nijog members.
According to Anil Dhir, the Convener of INTACH’s Bhubaneswar Chapter, the ASI norms do not allow cooking ‘prasad’ in large quantities in such close proximity to the temple. The 2018 fire had damaged the entire kitchen and the main temple to a great extent. In 2013, the government had asked the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation to build a new kitchen in the adjacent plot and work in now underway. The Ananta Vasudeva Plaza plan was incorporated in the Ekamra Khestra Project which would have housed both the kitchen and the Ananda Bazar. However, the plot is presently being converted into a small path and a garden. Enquiries with the authorities have not elicited any definite plan.
The records of the said plot retrieved from the R.I. office state the existence of a well. Filling it up is a criminal and punishable offence, he said, adding that the use of heavy machinery near the temple is in gross violation of the Amasar rules.
Dhir claimed that the authorities have gone on a haphazard and unplanned spree of construction and demolition by throwing all rules into the dustbin. A hastily convened committee has been formed without any experts or local stakeholders, and the unfinished work of the previous regime is being taken up with renewed vigour.
A.B.Tripathy, the state Convener of INTACH, is of the opinion that the well should not have been filled up and emphasised the necessity of a separate kitchen outside the complex. He also mentioned that the Ground Penetration Report made by IIT Gandhinagar should be made public and no further construction or demolition should be allowed in any of the prohibited zones.
When contacted, Dr N K Swain of ASI’s Bhubaneswar circle said he will go through the views expressed by INTACH and thoroughly examine the issue.
