Devotees throng Panchama near Berhampur on Ganesh Chaturthi

BERHAMPUR: Panchama, a sleepy village  on the outskirts of Berhampur city has been agog with the influx of thousands of devotees from other places in the state, including the neighboring Andhra Pradesh, on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. Defying continuous rains, mostly children and womenfolk made a beeline in front of a historic Ganesh temple in the village from the wee hours of the morning. The crowd kept surging right through the afternoon, with people from far flung places thronging the site to appease the elephant god. While the temple itself is the stuff of legend, a 500-year-old tree at the temple site is an added attraction, with devotees offering prayers to the tree in the belief that the elephant god appears in the tree. According to historians, the temple was built by king Purushottam Dev during his Kanchi Abhijan to marry princess Padmabati, daughter of King of Kanchi. While the king was sleeping, he heard a celestial voice instructing him to appease Lord Ganesh before leaving the place. He was told if the elephant god was pleased, the princess would surely be his. Thereupon the king and his troops set about looking for an idol of Lord Ganesh. After a long search, they discovered the idol in the tree. The kind worshipped the god and after returning from Kanchi, built a small temple at the site. Five 'Raula' families in the village were engaged to perform rituals for the deity. According to locals, since then devotees from Ganjam and other districts of the state, as well as neighboring Andhra Pradesh, have been visiting the temple to appease the god. "We have given a proposal to the tourism department to declare the place as a tourist place and to develop its infrastructure," said Goplalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahi.

Source: Times of India