Odisha govt to beautify Jagatsinghpur's Maa Sarala temple, sanctions Rs 42 cr

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], June 3 (ANI): In a bid to make Odisha temples more beautiful and spacious, the state government took another step on Thursday. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced a special package of Rs 42 crore in the first phase for the development of Sarala Temple in Jagatsinghpur. The project will be completed within a year.
The temple and its peripheral development will be carried out under the Integrated Development of Heritage and Monuments and Tourists Destination scheme. Rs 42 crore has been approved in the first phase for the development, the official press statement by the Chief Minister's office said.
Under the project, all the sub-shrines in the temple premises will be developed along with all basic amenities, accommodation, police control rooms, temple offices, etc for the convenience of the devotees and tourists.
The construction of the heritage wall will also be done along with the construction of the east-west north and south gates. Besides, there will be a Bhoga Mandap, Deepa Mandap, a shoe stand, a police control room, and a temple office.
A bronze idol of Adikabi Sarala Das will be installed in the temple compound near the banyan tree adjacent to 'Nanda Deula'. For this, 72 shop owners who will be displaced due to the beautification of the temple will be provided shops.
Recently, the Odisha government announced a temple development grant of Rs 70 crore for the Cuttack Chandi shrine, which also aims to complete the works in one year.
Jhankad is the sanctum sanctorum of Goddess Sarala. The Goddess is regarded as one of the most spiritually elevated expressions of Shaktism from time immemorial. Believed as a synthesis of divine figures of Durga and Saraswati, the culture of Sarala is an amalgamation of three principal Hindu cults namely Vedic, Tantrik and Vaishnavite.
It is one of the eight most famous Shakta shrines of Odisha. The main idol is carved out of stone is of eight-armed keeping her right feet on the lion in Mahinsha Mardini posture. Constructed by the legendary Bhauma Kings in the 8th Century, the place has a legendary association with sage Parshuram and the song of sage Yamadagni. (ANI)