BHUBANESWAR: The mighty Mahanadi River behaves in many ways. Sometimes it threatens with its deep blue water and sometimes with its dryness. It has numerous beautiful islands adding to its beauty, and some of them are unknown.
One such beautiful and not so well-known spot is Bhabeshwari Island. Just 12 km from Banki in Cuttack district on the Banki-Kalapathara Road, Bhabeshwari Island is an incredibly stunning tourist destination.
Talking to Orissa Post, Deepak Nayak, a passionate traveller and heritage lover from Cuttack, who had visited this stunning island, tells us that since generations Goddess Bhabeswari is being worshipped by the people of Botalama village on the island.
It is possible to walk to this tiny island during winter and summer. During monsoons when the flow of water increases, the island gets surrounded by water. Small boats are used to reach the island to perform daily rituals for the Goddess.
There is no sculpture of Goddess Bhabeswari on the island. The entire island is basically a huge rock like structure, and the rock itself is worshipped as Goddess.
Villagers are now building a temple dedicated to Goddess Bhabeshwari. They said that since ages the island was a resting place for fishermen operating on the Mahanadi, and they started worshipping the Goddess. Every year, during Kartika Purnima, a festival is celebrated on the island attracting hundreds from nearby villages.
From a distance, this small island looks like an oasis in a desert, especially during summer and winter. Deepak says it’s a mesmerising experience walking on the island’s white sand bed. If you are an adventure and nature enthusiast then you must visit this island which far away from the buzz of crowded cities, he added.
Locals from a nearby village have requested the government and Tourism Department to declare the beautiful island a tourist destination and promote it. They also demanded that the government should improve the condition of the road to the island, especially near the river bank, and provide boat facility so that tourists can safely visit the island.
The place, not far from other well-known tourist spots of the district like Ansupa Lake, Goddess Charchika Temple and Baideswar Temple, can really add value to the tourism map of both Cuttack and Odisha.
