Giant Sea Waves Swallow Centuries-Old Temple In Odisha

Odisha government had in 2018 relocated as many as 571 vulnerable families to a rehabilitation colony at Bagapatia, located about 10 km from the sea coast, officials said.

The marauding sea that had been eroding the coastline in Kendrapara for decades, devouring one village after another, recently razed to the ground the centuries-old Panchuvarahi temple, dashing hopes of locals who often offered prayers there seeking respite from the scourge of Mother Nature. The state government had in 2018 relocated as many as 571 vulnerable families to a rehabilitation colony at Bagapatia, located about 10 km from the sea coast, officials said. It was the first such rehabilitation and resettlement initiative in the state for people displaced by sea erosion, they said. Away from their hometown, much of which has been eaten up by the sea, some of its former residents, however, visited Satabhaya village from time to time to pay obeisance at the Panchuvarahi temple, although the idol of the deity has also been relocated to the rehabilitation colony.