SAMBALPUR: When authorities of the Samaleswari Temple here opened the shrine’s ‘hundi’ (donation box) on Monday, they were amused to find a letter from a devotee praying to the deity to get her married with the love of her life.
The letter, believed to be written by a young girl, read, “Jai Maa Samalei, Maa, please accept my prayers. Maa, I have come to you with a hope. Please help me to get married to the love of my life Rabindra with everyone’s consent.”
The letter was found along with cash offerings and ornaments in the temple donation box. Three more letters seeking blessings of the goddess for success in competitive examinations were also found in the ‘hundi’. While two letters were written in Tamil and Bengali, the third was by a man who sought the blessings of the deity to help his daughter crack the NEET examination.
President of Samaleswari Temple Trust Board Sanjay Baboo said people usually seek blessings of the deity and convey their wishes through different mediums. Letter is one of them. “These letters are a medium of communication between devotees and the goddess,” he added.