Bhubaneswar, Nov 14: Every son shoulders the responsibility to protect his mother from all odds. The recent incident of retrieval of the stolen Astadhatu idol of Maa Kotrakhi to Darpangarh in Jajpur district clearly hints the ' real care for mother' taken by Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for our State, Odisha.

The idol of Goddess Kotrakshi, which was stolen from Darpangarh temple almost three years back, has already been brought back and reinstalled in the temple, thanks to the Union Minister for his efforts.

The stolen idol was recovered by the Customs sleuths from an airport in New Delhi while miscreants were tyring to export it.

Already informed about the theft by locals, Pradhan swung to action without delay and requested Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to ensure return of the idol to Maa Kotrakshi Temple in Darpangarh. Sitharaman too assured Pradhan in this regard.

On Novermber 3, the Customs officials handed over the astadhatu idol of Goddess Kotrakshi to Odisha police pesonnel in the presence of Minister Pradhan.

Happy at this, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan extended his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Tourism and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy and the officials of the Customs Department and Archaeological Survey of India.

Subsequently, the Astadhatu idol of Maa Kotrakhi reached the Bhubaneswar airport and, from there, it was taken in a grand procession to Darpangarh on November 10. The happiness of the people of Jajpur distirct knew no bounds with the return of their presiding diety. The next day, the ritual of soul installation was conducted amid chanting of mantras and beating of drums.

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