A team of Government officials including chairman of State Temple Construction Committee GC Mitra, archeologist Bijay Kumar Rath and sculptor Raghunath Mohapatra inspected the old temple on Sunday to prepare a design of the new structure. Mohapatra said as the new temple will be built close to Subarnarekha river and is exposed to saline wind, it will have to be constructed in sandstone for longevity.
The team members, who took measurement of the ‘linga’, decided that it would be shifted to a place near the temple till the construction is complete.
Carved out of black granite, the Shiva ‘linga’ is 12 feet six inches in height and 12 feet in diameter. While six feet of the ‘linga’ is visible above the ground, the rest lies beneath.
Hindus of the locality of Bhograi and adjacent places have been demanding a new temple to accommodate the largest Shiva Linga in Asia to facilitate the puja rituals by the large section of Hindu devotees usually come to their deity at Bhusandeswar throughout the year.
Hindus of Bhograi are demanding a pilgrimage shelter house at Bhusandeswar Shiva Kshetra and claiming a declaration of a Heritage Pilgrimage site at Bhusandeswar.
Source: Hinduextence
