Jagannath shrines in Orissa to get facelift

Bhubaneswar:(Visakeo) A number of shrines of Lord Jagannath in Orissa,
languishing after surviving the onslaught of medieval Muslim invaders,
are poised to get a facelift. The Puri Jagannath temple
administration, as a part of its plan to preserve and enlarge the
sphere of Jagannath cult and its heritage, has embarked upon the
project, deputy administrator of the temple Bhaskar Mishra said. As
many as 35 Jagannath shrines including a 400-year-old temple in
Kendrapara district's Indupur village are being covered under the plan
to propagate the cult, he said. The temples being taken up for
maintenance owed historical linkage to Lord Jagannath at Puri.
Moreover, these places of worship withstood the marauding 16th century
Muslim invaders, he added. "Some of these temples had turned
protectors as the idols of Lords in Puri temple were relocated to
these places for safety," Bhaskar said adding a team of researchers
have identified seven Jagannath temples across Khurda, Cuttack, Puri
and Bolangir districts where Puri deities were safely ensconced during
the invasion. Stone cut inscriptions and palm-leaf scripts retrieved
from these places bear testimony to these facts, he said adding there
are other temples like the one at Indupur where the stone citadel of
Puri deities was relocated. The aim is to interlink the rest of
'Jagannath Peethas' with Puri, while plan is afoot to maintain
uniformity in puja rituals and religious practices adhered to in the
Jagannath temples, he said.