Berhampur: Maha Snana ritual will be conducted at Tara Tarini Temple, allegedly desecrated by thieves who looted ornaments worth lakhs of rupees and cash from the shrine atop Kumari hill in Odisha’s Ganjam district, on Friday.
According to sources, the ritual began this morning with priests and devotees gathering at the Rushikulya, and collecting 108 pitchers of water. They will then climb 999 steps back to the temple to bathe the presiding deity with ritually purified water.
The Maha Snana ritual will be followed by the recitation of three mantras 108 times and the shrine will thereafter be reopened for darshan. “The thieves defiled the temple by entering the sanctum sanctorum of the deity, and the ritual is essential to purify the shrine and restore its sanctity,” said a servitor.
Late on Tuesday, miscreants entered the 500-year-old temple in Purusottampur village by breaking the metal grills and locks. They looted silver and gold ornaments and valuable items worth around Rs 10 lakh. The stolen items included silver crowns, ceremonial umbrellas and face masks of the twin deities.
Notably, reservation works in the shrine of the presiding deity of Ganjam was taken up a cost of Rs 117 crore in 2022.