At least 22 rooms of the Roshaghara (kitchen) of the Ananta Basudev temple here were gutted after a major fire broke out in the temple during wee hours on Friday.
However, no casualty was reported in the incident whereas the cause behind the mishap was yet to be ascertained.
Sources said that some locals first spotted smoke billowing out of the temple at around 4 am and immediately informed Fire Services officials. By the time the
firefighting team reached the spot, 22 thatched rooms of the kitchen had been reduced to ashes.
The firefighting team took two hours to completely douse the flames.
The sale of Mahaprasad for public from the temple was temporarily suspended for the day. Notably, the ‘Abhada’ is prepared for around 5,000 people in the temple every day.
local MlA and Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda visited the temple and announced a grant of `3 lakh from his MlA lAD fund for repair of the kitchen.