BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday urged the Centre to immediately withdraw the National Monument Authority (NMA)'s draft heritage bylaws for Ananta Basudeva and Brahmeswar temples in Ekamra Kshetra of the Capital City. He called upon all MPs of the State to take up the matter with the Union Government and press for their rollback.
Taking to his Twitter handle, the Chief Minister said the NMA under Culture Ministry should have consulted the Odisha government prior to framing the draft bylaws. "It would have been appropriate for the Central agencies to take the State into confidence on sensitive religious issues," he said.
The Chief Minister also appealed to all the State MPs to take up the sensitive matter with Centre and Union Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel as it involves the sentiments of lakhs of devotees of Odisha, lives and livelihood of sevayats and linked to the smooth conduct of nitis (rituals) of Lord Lingaraj.
Meanwhile, thousands of people including sevayats lit clay lamps in front of the Lingaraj temple and held a silent protest seeking the Chief Minister's intervention for withdrawal of the bylaws.
Stating that the proposed rules for the two temples will pose hindrance in the Ekamra Kshetra beautification work, they said the Chief Minister should take up the matter with the Centre like he did in the case of Sri Jagannath temple at Puri.
The NMA had on January 18 issued a public notification on draft heritage bylaws for Jagannath temple besides, Ananta Basudeva and Brahmeswar temples and sought suggestions within a month. Although the Culture Ministry withdrew the rules for Srimandir after much hue and cry, those for the Ekamra Kshetra temples have not been rolled back yet.
The bylaws prohibit and regulate constructions within 100 to 300 metre radius of the monuments that are protected under the The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act-2010.