Former Assembly Deputy Speaker and BJP leader Rama Chandra Panda submitted a memorandum to the Puri district Collector demanding restoration of kitchen room of the Maa Satabhauni temple located on the bank of Markandeswar Tank in Puri.
Goddess Satabhauni is worshipped not only in south Odisha, but also in several other parts of the State/country. Keeping the inconvenience in performing day to day rituals and in preparation of daily ‘bhog’ for the Goddess “Maa Satabhauni” and the perceptions of devotees in mind, Panda’s paternal uncle and well- known social worker late Natabara Panda had renovated the small kitchen room about three decades back.
Again with the same consideration, his nephew Panda had made the electrical wiring of the kitchen room in 1990s for performance of day to day rituals of the deities.
During 2000-2004, Panda had made a petition to then Sate Director of Culture to renovate the temple area out of the heritage fund given by the State Government.
Panda mentioned that during his recent visit to the temple, he was surprised to notice that the age-old coconut orchard (the prime source of revenue to meet the expenses of the deity) and the kitchen room/space have been totally demolished by the local administration and a large building on the same spot is under construction.
Panda protested the unilateral action of the administration in demolishing a heritage temple and urged the Puri Collector to look into the matter personally and direct the authorities to restore the kitchen room.