Hyderabad industrialist builds Rs 7 crore temple in wife's village

KENDRAPADA: A man from Jajpur district spent Rs 7 crore to build a temple in his wife's village to fulfill her wish. The couple, Khetrabashi Lenka, 62, an industrialist and his wife Baijayanti Lenka, 56, live in Hyderabad.

Baijayanti of Chikna village under Binjharapur block has been a devotee of Ma Santoshi since her childhood. "My wife had a dream to worship the goddess in a temple in her village. I built the temple in my in-law's village over 1.5 acres. The construction that started in 2008 was completed recently," said Khetrabasi.



The temple has been built in South Indian architectural style as per Baijayanti's wish. "She herself supervised the construction by residing in the village. Apart from goddess Santoshi, Shiva, Ganesh, Hanuman and nabagrahas will also be worshipped in the temple," he said. "My son is a software engineer and daughter is a doctor. Both encouraged me to spend money to build the temple as per their mother's wish," added Khetrabasi.

Baijayanti and villagers have expressed their happiness for building of the temple. "I am grateful to my husband that he fulfilled my wish by building this beautiful temple," she said. "We are happy that she pursued her husband to build a temple in our village," said Ramakanta Das, a villager.