Women clean the Mausimaa temple premises in Kendrapara town. Telegraph picture

Kendrapara, May 9: Braving scorching heat, homemakers from various self-help groups turned up in large numbers today and voluntarily toiled to clean up the Mausimaa temple of Lord Baldevjew in this town.

“The Mausimaa temple is now wearing a new look only for the efforts of these women. Earlier, it had turned into an object of neglect. The temple draws attention of the officials only when the presiding deity, Lord Baldevjew, turns up here for an 11-days’ sojourn during the annual car festival. For the rest of the year, the medieval temple stays neglected,” said Debendra Swar, a servitor of the Baldevjew temple.

“The medieval temple had turned dirty and filthy. Its campus was full of shrubs and bushes. It was also lacking cleanliness. We had requested the temple management committee to restore its clean environment. But they did not pay any heed to our request. Then we decided to take up the task all by ourselves,” said a woman volunteer.

“We used to visit the temple frequently. We had found its premises dirt-filled. After seeing the prolonged inaction on the part of the temple management, we resolved to take up the cleaning work,” said Jharana Behera of Maa Satabhauni Self-Help Group.

About 50 active members from seven self-help groups joined together to carry out the cleanliness drive.

“As we marched towards the temple with bamboo baskets and brooms, a curious crowd had rushed to have a look at what we were going to do. Some of them had also laughed at us. But after we completed the job, the same people showed an appreciative gesture,” said Ritarani Das, a homemaker and a member of Indrani Self-Help Group.

“Initially, some of the members were shying away to move outdoors for such a work. But they joined us after some persuasion. Now, after we have been able to do such kind of a community work, it has given us immense satisfaction,” said Sashmita Das of Parvati Self-Help Group.

“It is a symbolic community service. These women deserve praise for what they have done. Government agencies should wake up at least now to do what they were supposed to perform long ago,” said Bijoy Krushna Sahu, former chairman of Kendrapara Municipality.

“It’s heartening to note that they voluntarily cleaned up the temple. The temple’s management board has been asked to restore cleanliness on the temple’s premises,” said Akuli Charan Bhuyan, additional district magistrate, Kendrapara.