Odisha floods: When humans paved way for Trinity’s relocation

NUAPADA:  Despite odds, residents of Konabira village could not leave the idols of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra at the local temple to bear damage due to flooding. With the only road to the temple turning muddy due to inundation, they built a temporary road with stone dust to relocate the idols to the house of the priest in an elaborate procession on Wednesday. 

Floodwaters have inundated many villages of Nuapada district. Konabira GP under Komna block witnessed flooding on Tuesday after release of water from Tikhali Dam under the Lower Indra Irrigation Project in Khariar.

While the irrigation project was made operational earlier this year, the villagers of Konabira were already evicted from there to pave way for the project earlier and had shifted to another place. However, the temple remained there and people frequented the place to worship. Following incessant rains over the last one week, water from the reservoir was released flooding nearby villages including Konabira.

After the temple was inundated, the villagers and priests decided to relocate the deities to a safe place to protect the idols from damage. With roads turning muddy, the villagers made a temporary road and relocated the idols on Wednesday. The idols were shifted a kilometre away to the house of Chhatra Majhi, the priest of the temple in a procession. All rituals of the Trinity will be conducted there till situation improves, a resident of the village said.

Villager Gokul Naik said, “During the development of the project we were promised that a new temple will be built for the deities. Subsequently, the land acquisition departments sanctioned a fund of `30 lakh but we are yet to get a land for the purpose.”