Marada Temple takes a Leaf from Puri Jagannatha Temple

BY: SUN CORRESPONDENT

Feb 9, JAGANNATHA PURI, ORISSA Marada temple in the Ganjam district in Orissa is all set to witness the regular puja rituals. Courtesy: Sri Jagannath Temple in Puri. Preparations at the Marada shrine are in full swing.

“The Puri Jagannath temple administration has donated over Rupees 36,000 to Ganjam district administration for this year. But it has not been decided whether the Puri temple will continue donating money to the Ganjam district administration,” said Bhaskar Mishra, the deputy administrator of Jagannath temple.

Going by history, after the Deities of Lord Jagannath and His siblings-Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra-returned to Puri in 1736 from a 28-month exile, local priests worshipped occasionally at Marada temple with devotees offering puja to the circular pedestal of the deities.

Mishra said this is the first time that the Puri temple has extended help for puja outside Puri. “It will further strengthen the relation between the shrines,” Mishra said.

“At least five persons will perform daily rituals in the Marada temple like the ones followed in Puri temple. Similarly, at least four types of prasad will be offered in the temple everyday,” said PK Das, a block development officer.

It is noted that last year, a team of Puri Jagannath temple officials led by the temple chief administrator, Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, visited the Marada temple. The team has promised all help to develop the Marada temple and to make it a religious tourist place.

The Marada temple is a marvelous showpiece of Kalinga architecture. Legend has it that the temple served as a safe place to hide Deities when the Kalinga-styled temples came to be targeted by invaders from 1733-1735 AD. The then King of Puri, Gajapati Ramchandra Dev, was in no position to fight against the Muslim invaders. Therefore, plans were made to shift the deities to a safe place. The then Athagarh King Jagannath Harichandan Jagdev came to the Gajapati’s help.

Masons and carpenters from Mathura worked day and night for months to complete a temple in Hatibari forest. Sharan Srikshetra, as it is called to this day, was designed to look like a mass stone from a distance. The Puri Deities adorned the newly constructed temple. Their Lordships were installed on three circular stone pedestals. Reportedly, the famous Rath Yatra has never been observed here to avoid drawing attention of the Muslim invaders during their stay at the Sharan Srikshetra.



Homepage



| The Sun | News | Editorials | Features | Sun Blogs | Classifieds | Events | Recipes | PodCasts |

| About | Submit an Article | Contact Us | Advertise | HareKrsna.com |

Copyright 2005, HareKrsna.com. All rights reserved.