NAYAGARH: The Raghunath temple in Odgaon has been spruced up for the 10-day Ram Navami festival. During the festival, the deities of Lord Ram, Laxman and Sita will don different attires according to episodes of the Ramayan.
The idols were sculpted by Diwan Bairagi Patnaik of Nayagarh King Mrutyunjaya Singh. They are unique in the sense that Lord Ram and Laxman have thin line moustaches which are curved upward at the end.
The special feature of the Raghunath temple, consisting of Bhadramandap, Natyamandap and Iasran Mandap, is that their ‘dadhinauties’ or temple spires are gold-plated.
Apart from this, the 210-year-old ‘Lanka Podi Yatra’ began at the Mahavir Kshetra at Daspalla on Sunday. The yatra will conclude on April 18.
On all the 18 days, important episodes of the Ramayan will be staged in different parts of the town which will conclude with Lanka Podi.
Zilla Mahotsav Begins
The Nayagarh Zilla Mahotsav-2012 began here on Sunday. It marks the carving out of Nayagarh district from Puri district in 1993.The Mahotsav will continue till April 6.