Fw: Jyotish: Supercyclone and temples

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> Jyotish: Supercyclone and temples

> Thursday, 11 November 1999 19:45

>

> WITHOUT COMMENT

> This newsitem appeared in Indian newspapers.

>

> November 11, 1999

> Temples escape damage in super cyclone

> Television towers crashed down, electricity poles fell like ninepins and

mighty trees were uprooted as the super cyclone devastated coastal Orissa.

However, there were several temples in the state, some of them dating back

to sixth century AD, which withstood the impact of the storm.

> At some places even the flags atop temple domes were not damaged, even

though the wind velocity in the state capital Bhubaneswar touched 250 km/ph.

> According to State Archaeology Department superintendent B K Rath the

state capital has as many as 320 temples, but none of them suffered any

major damage in the cyclone.

> He said all the debasthals followed the traditional text of temple

architecture and were based on Vastu philosophy.

> These temples were built with khandolite stone, sandstone, laterite stone

and bricks. Though most of these temples were in a dilapidated condition and

were under conservation work, the superstructure of these shrines escaped

damage.

> Dr Rath said field reports received by his department suggested that no

temple in the coastal areas had been damaged in the cyclone.

> According to official sources, there were as many as 800 temples and

monuments belonging to different periods located in the cyclone-devastated

areas and about 100 of these were under conservation work.

> Even the tenth-century Parasar temple in Paradip, the epicentre of the

super cyclone, withstood the impact. Only a portion of the boundary wall of

this temple was damaged when a big tree fell on it.

> The Sakhigopal temple, the 12th century Madhavananda temple, the

Lataharan temple and the Grameswar temple located in the cyclone-battered

areas were also intact, he said.

> Archaeologists believe that several factors were taken into consideration

before erecting a temple for its safety. Thus, though many buildings of

recent origin had suffered extensive damage, these structures withstood the

fury of the cyclone.