Maa Panchubarahi temple submerged as sea swallows the last symbol of Satabhaya

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Kendrapada: The sea once again breached its boundary in Satabhaya village in Kendrapada district and washed away last remnants of old Satabhaya history.

As per reports, Maa Panchubarahi shrine situated in coastal Satabhaya is fully submerged under the swollen seawater due to high tidal waves.

Satabhaya is situated in Rajanagar block, it was among the group of seven islands along the coast of the Bay of Bengal. Besides Satabhaya and Kanhupur, the villages of Gobindapur, Mohanpur, Chintamanipur, Badagahiramatha and Kharikula have been engulfed by the sea.

Rise of the seawater level increased coastal erosion year after year, damaging their homes and farms. Residents had appealed to government several times for rehabilitation due to close movement of the sea towards the village boundary.

The government then took steps towards the rehabilitation of villagers after repeatedly urged by them. In 2018, the 571 families belonging to Satabhaya were rehabilitated at Bagapatia by providing a new settlement and basic facilities like electricity, drinking water, roads, school and Anganwadi center.

But with the shifting, not only did the villages move away from their ancestors’ property, but also from the traditional farming ways they have been used to.

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Several people, including farmer families could not get work as there was not farmland; hence several of them had moved to other parts of India like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Bengaluru and Pune for seeking livelihoods.

For the people of Satabhaya, Maa Panchubarahi was not only a deity but also a symbol of their identity and culture at Satabhaya.

Later as per the villagers’ pleas, there was also a new Maa Panchubarahi temple built at Bagapatia in their new settlement as they were not interested to stay back without the deity there at old Satabhaya.

For years the old shrine was standing on the edges and the sea kept inching closer and closer to it and a big part of that Historic temple collapsed as it was hit by a tidal wave two years back.

The other part of it got drowned in the higher tide and another symbol for remembering Satabhaya just sunk into the deep sea. The villages may be safe in Bagapatia but, the sea is making sure that there is no past that is still living in Satabhaya.

Also read: Plight of the displaced villagers of the sea-ravaged Satabhaya in Kendrapara district: Watch

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