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Temples escape damage in super cyclone

Television towers crashed down, electricity poles fell like ninepins and mighty trees were uprooted as the super cyclone devastated coastal Orissa. However, there were several temples in the state, some of them dating back to sixth century AD, which withstood the impact of the storm.

At some places even the flags atop temple domes were not damaged, even though the wind velocity in the state capital Bhubaneswar touched 250 km/ph.

According to State Archaeology Department superintendent B K Rath the state capital has as many as 320 temples, but none of them suffered any major damage in the cyclone.

He said all the debasthals followed the traditional text of temple architecture and were based on Vastu philosophy.

These temples were built with khandolite stone, sandstone, laterite stone and bricks. Though most of these temples were in a dilapidated condition and were under conservation work, the superstructure of these shrines escaped damage.

Dr Rath said field reports received by his department suggested that no temple in the coastal areas had been damaged in the cyclone.

According to official sources, there were as many as 800 temples and monuments belonging to different periods located in the cyclone-devastated areas and about 100 of these were under conservation work.

Even the tenth-century Parasar temple in Paradip, the epicentre of the super cyclone, withstood the impact. Only a portion of the boundary wall of this temple was damaged when a big tree fell on it.

The Sakhigopal temple, the 12th century Madhavananda temple, the Lataharan temple and the Grameswar temple located in the cyclone-battered areas were also intact, he said.

Archaeologists believe that several factors were taken into consideration before erecting a temple for its safety. Thus, though many buildings of recent origin had suffered extensive damage, these structures withstood the fury of the cyclone.

UNI

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