New Delhi. Remains of an ancient temple had resurfaced from the Mahanadi river in Bhapur block of Nayagarh district a few days ago. The temple is believed to be around 450 to 500 years old had submerged during a flood in 1933.
The expert team comprises of Dr. Rajiv Lochan Mishra from IIT, Bhubaneswar and archaeologist from Uttar Pradesh’s Rohilkhand University, Prof. Anup Ranjan Mishra. They are expected to do further research on the temple.
The archaeological survey team of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) recently claimed that they discovered an ancient submerged temple in the Mahanadi upstream from Cuttack.
The top of the submerged temple was discovered mid-river near Baideswar in the Padmavati village near Nayagarh. The 60 ft submerged temple dates back to late 15th or early 16th century, considering the construction style of the Mastaka and material used for the construction.
The temple has an idol of Lord Gopinath Dev (Vishnu). Its structure can be estimated to be of the 15th or 16th century.
As Mahanadi changed its course, the village was frequented with floods and later submerged it. People moved to a higher place, but some of the art and culture of the village sank in the river. Sources say that it is part of the ancient Gopinath temple.
According to the researchers, the place where this temple is found is called Satpatana. There used to be seven villages here and people from those villages used to worship Lord Vishnu in this temple. Padmavati village was also one of these seven villages. Later, due to repeated floods in the river, the village got engulfed in the river and the people here settled in high places.
