The leaning temple of Huma. Telegraph picture

Sonepur, July 25: Two famous temples of western Orissa, which are more than 300-year-old and are known for their aesthetic beauty, would be submerged if the proposed 320MW hydro-power project at Sindol in Sonepur district comes up.

The National Hydro Power Corporation on Thursday last had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with state government for setting up three hydro-power projects on Deogaon (Sindol-1) in Sambalpur district and Kapasira (Sindol-2) and Godhaneswar (Sindol-3) of Sonepur.

The two temples which face the threat of being submerged by the project are the famous leaning temple of Huma in Sambalpur and Godhaneswar temple of Birmaharajpur in Sonepur district.

Though energy minister Antanu Sabyasachi Nayak has described the people’s apprehension of large-scale displacement and threat to the monuments that stand by the Mahanadi river as unfounded, residents here are enraged at the move. Local residents are mulling an agitation as they fear that the projects would submerge some rare monuments apart from large stretch of fertile land and forest land.

Historian Sudam Charan Naik, who has extensively authored on Sonepur history, said it would be a big loss for the area if such heritage sites are submerged.

“The banks of river Mahanadi are dotted with rare monuments which face the threat of going underwater because of the project. The Godhaneswar temple dates back to the Soma dynasty in eighth century AD. The new temple is, however, about 200-year-old. The leaning temple of Huma is about 350-year-old and was built in 1670 by King Baliar Singh, the fifth king of the Chauhan dynasty of Sambalpur. The temple is also protected by the state archaeological department,” Naik said.

“Sonepur is the epicentre of cultural and spiritual tourism of Orissa and it will be unfortunate if such sites are affected by the projects,” said Shyama Om Prasad Mishra, who is the convener of the Peoples’ Action Committee of Subarnapur.

The action committee today handed over a memorandum to the district collector demanding withdrawal of the MoU.

President of the Sonepur Bar Ram Sankar Hota said lawyers have also demanded withdrawal of the MoU.