The Haridakhandi mutt in Berhampur . Telegraph picture

Berhampur, Oct. 8: The 350-year-old mutt of Haridakhandi under the jurisdiction of the municipal corporation is in bad shape.

The building has developed cracks at many places and the wood used in the structure is falling apart.

“This mutt was a great centre of Vedic religion. It was the most important socio-religious institution not only in Ganjam but also in the whole of Southeast India. The famous ‘Rama Nataka’ of Odisha originated in this mutt. But all of that is past now,” Ananta Ram Kar (Kaundinya), a renowned researcher in Ganjam, said.

The present mahant of the mutt, Maharaj Narayan Das, said the historic monastery was struggling for survival.

“Experts from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) must visit the site soon to suggest constructive proposals to preserve this historical monument and the state government must look into it seriously,” said Das, who took charge as mahanta in 1985.

“We have changed some jhinkara roofs with tin sheets to slow the decaying process. But it is not systematic and we need expert opinion on this,” he said.

“Atmaram Goswamiji, who came from northern India with a lot of money and became a close friend of the raja of Mahuri, built a small hut under a morybolam (harida in Odia) tree for the worship of Lord Laxmi Nrusingha in 1662 and the area around the original hut came to be known as Haridakhandi. Atmaram became the first mahanta of the mutt and exercised great influence over the raja of Mahuri and his family by lending money to them and in the process, succeeded in establishing 15 branches of the mutt at various places. The mahantas of these 15 mutts regarded him as their guru. In 1702, Atmaram died and left behind a huge sum of money and land and a line of successors,” researcher Ananta Ram Kar said.

The second mahanta to succeeded Atmaram was Alkram Das Goswamiji. He increased his influence in Mahuri and participated in the movements against the British authority. In 1789, he was imprisoned by the court in a murder case and sent to Madras jail as a state prisoner. While Alkram was in prison, the government appointed mahanta Jagannath as the manager of the mutt.

Alkram was displeased and died in jail. Later, he was found innocent by a committee headed by Sir Charles Cakely, Kar said.

Laxman Dasji was appointed as the next mahanta but he did not continue long and was succeeded by Bhagaban Das Goswamiji who continued from 1804 to 1864. After the death of Bhagaban Das, Madan Das, who was a great Sanskrit scholar and among the galaxy of pundits of the Muktimandapa in Puri, became the mahanta.

The mutt transformed from being a religious-socio-economic centre into a religious-spiritual centre while he was in office.

He turned the mutt into an active centre of Sanskrit studies and Sanatana dharma exposition and dissemination, Kar said.

The occasion of Ram Navami during the month of Chaitra (March-April) is still celebrated with much gaiety in a weeklong festival when thousands of people congregate at the mutt. The Laxmi Nrusingha temple, Hanuman temple and the Narmadeswar facing west on the mutt complex still stand.