294-year-old Khallikote Jagannath temple crumbling

Berhampur: A stone weighing 2 kg fell from ‘Singhadwara Gumuta’ area of the 294-year-old Lord Jagannath temple in Khallikote, raising questions on the safety of the shrine and also thousands of devoteesvisiting the temple. Shree Jagannath temple in Khallikote in Ganjam district is the second largest Jagannath temple, after the Puri Jagannath temple.

This is the second such incident of stone falling at the historic temple in the last two years. A huge piece of stone, weighing 7 kg, had fallen from the opposite side of the same place two years ago. A lion idol, made of stone, fell near the main temple on the north side four months ago. A ‘Baraha’ idol on the south side also broke when the bamboo supports were removed. The sculptures on the walls of the temple are in a dilapidated state. Large-sized holes also developed on the walls of Radha Krushna temple and Jagyan Narayan mutt which have become safe abode of poisonous snakes and servitors are scared to enter the temple. Speaking about the incident, some locals said the abode of Khallikote Jagannath temple, which is regarded as the safest place, is turning unsafe and on the verge of collapse. Describing the incident as ‘unfortunate,’ they requested the authorities to take immediate measures to take up repair works or else they would resort to agitation, they cautioned.

Though several ministers of both BJD and BJP governments and Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb of Puri visited the Lord Jagannath temple in Khallikote, no action has been taken to restore this historic temple.

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 feet. It has three chambers like in Puri temple -- Garvagriha, Jagamohana and Natamandapa. It is made of red sand stones. Lakshmi, Madanmohan, Sarasvati, Bamana, Nrsimha, Dolagovinda are also worshipped on the pedestal. All other rituals and festivals are observed according to the tradition of Jagannath temple of Puri.

Rath Yatra of Lord Balabhadra, Sri Jagannath and Subhadra is celebrated here with much joy and pomp. In 1913, the compound wall was constructed by queen Kanaka Manjari, the wife of Harihara Mardaraja. Now, it is managed by the Endowment department of Odisha.