India being an extremely religious country, houses a countless number of temples and other places of worship. And with that comes the numerous unique customs and superstitions associated with each of them. But with changing times, these customs have also had to adapt or at least accommodate change.
This temple in Odisha is one such case, where rather than modernisation, global warming has forced them to adapt.
Ma Panchubarahi in Satabhaya village, Odisha has maintained a very strict curb on men touching the idols housed inside. At this beachside shrine, only married Dalit women from the local fishing community perform rituals.
According to Times Of India, the temple has been forced to relocate to a new location due to rising sea levels. The new temple is located 12 km inland whereas the current one is only a few meters from the sea.
This has compelled the priestesses to allow men into the holy place to transport the heavy black stone idols inside. There has, until now, been no exception for 400 years.
Speaking of their decision, Sabita Dalei, one of the five priestesses says:
“It is not possible for women to pull it off. We need many men and sculptors to move the idols.”
The priestesses and villagers have grappled with the decision for years, with them even deciding to engage only women workers to shift the deities, back in 2012. Finally having come to terms with the reality, the historic event of letting the deities be touched by men will take place today.
Once the 1.5-tonne deities are transported by the male labourers to their destination in Bagapatia, the priestess will ‘purify’ them with a ritual.
Dharanidhar Rout, a former college principal, speaks of their unique custom as follows:
“At a time when many temples in the country are out of bounds for Dalits, and women face restrictions in places such as Kerala’s Sabarimala, Ma Panchubarahi is a beacon of hope for women.”
Dalei adds that the sea has been advancing towards the shrine for years now and that it has already swallowed up many houses and agricultural plots. She recalls that there had been a distance of 5 km between the temple and the sea fifty years back.
Like Rout says, it is refreshing that a temple gives preference to women and Dalits over others at this temple. Especially when they face severe discrimination elsewhere. However, this incident is also a sharp reminder of the declining state of our planet. Global warming is not a cooked up myth and it is about time we gave it proper attention.