Rourkela: Hiding among the numerous temples dedicated to either Lord Shiva or Jagannath, there exists a temple in Rourkela, over 150 years old, solely dedicated to Lord Ram.
The temple is situated in Panposh Busti and as per the trustee of the temple it is more than 150 years old. One will find the temple at 500 metre distance after entering Panposh Busti from the railway overbridge. This temple is maintained by the Raghunath Jiu Trust and the trustee is Bijayanand Agarwal. About the temple, Agrawal said, “This is not a private temple. The Jalan family had donated the land for this temple which remained neglected till 1990.”
However, when the Ram Janmabhoomi movement gathered momentum and became a national phenomenon, locals here started taking an interest in it. “The renovation of the temple was done mostly by the local youths and some of the established families of the area,” said the trustee. Late Kissan Prasad Sahu, a prominent leader of the BJP, Harmohan Mohapatra, and others took a keen interest in the development of the temple, informed Agarwal. The trust got monetary support from the public for the renovation of the temple. Besides running a lottery for over a year, many donated for its complete renovation as per their capacity. The idols of Lord Ram, Goddess Sita, Laxman and Hanuman being worshipped here came from Rajasthan.
Besides, there is a Shivling which came from Khiching in Keonjhar district. The glasswork decoration has been done by artisans from Delhi. Agarwal said this temple has a thriving presence of devotees nowadays. Speaking about the upcoming Ram Temple consecration celebration, Agarwal said, “We have different programmes lined up in the run-up to the consecration ceremony. Apart from non-stop reading of Ramayana, special ‘arati’ every afternoon, yajnas, and lighting of diyas every evening, diyas will be lit January 22 as per the norms followed during Dev Dipavali. We also have a special prasad distribution for the devotees.”
RAJESH MOHANTY, OP