DHUBRI, Aug 30 - The historic Alokjhari Mahamaya temple located at one of the remotest parts of Dhubri district is facing its worst financial crisis since decades due to inappropriate communication and limited footfall to the religious place.
Bad roads and bridges to the Mahamaya Padika Dham, which is surrounded by rivers and located in the hilly area, has always restrained a section of devotees to visit this important religious place, which once had its own glory.
But the ongoing lockdown has cut down the number of visitors to this important religious place manifold and hence making management of the temple an uphill task as the temple management committee fully depends on donations by the devotees.
It may be mentioned here that the Mahamaya Padika Dham, situated in the remotest corner of Alokjhari forest, almost 4 kms from Tamarhat, is considered an important Shakti Peeth, where legends says that a holy man named Sachidananda found a golden idol of goddess Mahamaya about two centuries ago. The then king of Gauripur, Pratap Chandra Barua, dreamt of the deity and donated 108 bighas of land in the name of Mahamaya and built a temple in that remote forest, which is popularly known as Alokjhari Temple or Dham.
�Every year, a mela is organised in the Dham where visitors from all over the state as well as many parts of the county arrive, and we generate a good sum of donations from it to survive for the entire year. But this year, the mela was not conducted, scheduled for the month of April for about 15 days. We are therefore facing the worst financial crisis�, said Binoy Kumar Dev Sarma, who informed that the daily pujas in the temple are continuing.
Narayan Chandra Prodhani, general secretary of the Dham, informed that they had appealed to the state government several times to develop the area into a tourist spot and develop the road communication and also construct the rickety bridges connected to the temple, but in vain.
�Had the roads been properly developed, I believe we would not have faced such an acute financial crisis�, Prodhani said.
