The room where puja is being organised on the sea beach in Jagatsinghpur. Telegraph picture

Kendrapara, March 18: Constantly threatened by the marauding sea, people in a cluster of coastal villages in Kendrapara district have begun invoking divine intervention to ward off the lurking danger.

Residents of seaside villages in and around Brahmanasahi gram panchayat under Rajnagar tehsil have started offering puja to the furious sea near Pentha coast.

“We have organised yajna ritual on the erosion-hit sea beach. The government agencies are trying to stop the advancing sea by erecting geo-tube sea wall. Still, we believe the furious nature can be tamed only if god desires to do so,” said villagers of Brahmanasahi.

“There is nothing wrong in offering the yajna. It is a religious belief. People are offering prayer so that cruel sea might spare causing any further damage to them. The government was watching silently over these years as the sea is gradually crawling towards the villages. Of late, the government agencies have chalked out scientific measures like geo-tube technology to arrest sea erosion. The project should be executed without any further delay,” said Jagabandhu Nayak, a former chairman of the Rajnagar Panchayat Samiti.

“These villages are worst hit by sea erosion as mighty waves continue to batter human settlements triggering constant alarm over here. The belief etched in the minds of people is that worshipping sea might tame the extent of erosion-induced damage,” said Nayak, the former chairperson.

Weary of danger staring at them, hundreds of villagers thronged the puja site to pay obeisance to sea God. They believe that religious rituals of this nature would distract the sea from advancing into their territories.

“Funds were collected from every household. People voluntarily contributed for the three-day yagna that has commenced yesterday. Priests and heads of several mutts from across the state are performing the rituals amid chants of Vedic mantras and hymns,” added Pabitra Nayak, sarpanch, Brahmanasahi gram panchayat.

In the face of unabated erosion by the sea, about 12,000 people living in vulnerable villages like Brahmanasahi, Pentha, Prasannapur, Gobardhanpur, Endulapur, Khandadhar, Praharajpur are literally living on the edge.