JAJPUR: Residents of Darpanigarh and its adjoining villages under Badachana block in Jajpur cheered as the idol of their revered deity Maa Kotrakhi, stolen from the temple over two years ago, was brought back on Friday.
The idol reached the village in the afternoon and will be reinstalled on the sanctum sanctorum of the temple with all rituals on Saturday. Sources said the idol reached Bhubaneswar airport from New Delhi on Thursday following which it was brought to Badachana police station. It was then further taken to Darpanigarh village by locals in a procession with the blowing of conch shells amid a spiritual ambience.
The idol of Maa Kotrakhi, made of Ashtadhatu (an alloy of eight different metals), was stolen from the temple on January 11, 2021. The stolen idol was later recovered by the Customs Department from Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi and kept at the Customs Commissioner’s office of New Delhi Air Cargo.
After Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan wrote to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the latter intervened in bringing the idol back to its village. The 26-inch idol reportedly weighs around 38 kg and is over 100 years old.