Nilagiri: The Panchalingeswar shrine here in Balasore district would get a major facelift as the district administration has decided to develop the infrastructure at the tourism site. Thousands of devotees and tourists from various parts of the state and outside visit the picturesque site nestled in sylvan settings every year. Panchalingeswar had remained shut for tourists for two years owing to Covid-19 pandemic. Now, with the easing of Covid restrictions, the shrine is expected to pull a good number of tourists this year.
Thousands of Kanwarias visit the shrine to pour water on the lingas in the holy month of Shravana. Keeping this in view, the district administration has decided to put in place some additional facilities like toilets, drinking water, market complex, parking lots, roads and to construct a dam at the site.
Collector Sindhe Dattatraya Bhausaheb visited the area Thursday and held discussions with divisional forest officer Ayush Jain, Nilagiri sub-collector Dipti Ranjan Sethi, tehsildar Asesh Kumar Nayak, Oupada BDO Parsuram Panda, SDO (rural development) Iswari Prasad Das and Kuldiha ranger Ananta Jena about developing various facilities. The Collector also talked to local officials, sarpanch Purusottam Sethi, social activist Manoranjan Das, members of the temple trust board about multiple problems plaguing the shrine. He also talked to the tehsildar to identify land encroached upon by some people in the area.