Ganjam: While Rath Yatra is celebrated in Lord Jagannath temples across Odisha and also is other parts of the world, in the 300-year-old temple in Marada in Ganjam district it is a non-event.
There is no deity in the temple at Marada, which served as a safe hiding place for the deities of the Puri Jagannath temple during 1733-1735 AD when Kalinga style temples were being targeted by Muslim invaders.
Later, the deities returned to Puri when the situation calmed down. As the deities had taken shelter at Marada, the place came to be known as Sarana Srikhetra.
Since then there is no deity in the temple, the car festival is never observed here. The sevayats and researchers of Jagannath cult, who visited the place about years ago, had promised to tell the world about the significance of the temple and urge people visiting Puri to go to Marada.
“If 10 per cent of the people visiting Puri come to Marada, the place will come into limelight,” said Ashok Nayak, a resident. People throng the spot for research and picnic.
PNN
