BHUBANESWAR, June 23, 2013: The state government on Saturday demolished many old buildings and structures in front of Lingaraj Temple amid tight security. The buildings were choking the passage to the temple.

In order to beautify the front side of the 11th century shrine, the tourism department last year proposed to acquire about 282 decimal by demolishing some structures. "In today's demolition, we acquired about 160 decimal by razing seven big structures. The owners of the buildings had been given compensation of Rs 4 crore," said Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) general manager M R Patnaik.

"The demolition was done in consultation with locals and the temple administration. There was no resistance during demolition. Tourism department would use the vacant space for beautification and parking," he said.

In the next phase, demolition will be carried out near Debi Padahara. About 25 temple staff quarters will be demolished. The displaced temple staff will be relocated at a different place. After complete demolition, not only the famous Shiva shrine will be visible well, but also 108 small temples around the shrine (which are obscured by several old structures).

The OTDC assistant engineer Sanjay Patra said the road from Lingaraj Temple to Ananta Basudev Temple will be widened after demolition. "OTDC has developed a parking space and Lingaraj Haat behind Ananta Basudev Temple. But there is no good road to the parking space," said Patra. He said tourism department will spend Rs 30 lakh to develop the roads.

The Lingaraja Temple is maintained by a temple trust board and Archaeological Survey of  India (ASI). The temple draws an average 6,000 visitors a day and lakhs during festivals like Shivaratri.

Source: The Times of India, DT. June 23, 2013.