The Patitapabana Bana atop the famous Lord Jagannath temple in Odisha was blown away due to the cyclone over the Bay of Bengal, which has left people in the vicinity panicked. Amphan had intensified into a Super Cyclonic Storm and was hovering over the central and adjoining south Bay of Bengal. According to the details, the Patitapabana Bana (prime flag) was among several other holy flags fixed atop Srimandir. The flag snapped off at around 2.05 pm after a strong wind blew over the centuries-old temple during cloudy weather.
The incident triggered panic among people as well as devotees, who termed Patitapabana Bana’s snapping off as 'inauspicious'. A similar incident had happened last year, when Cyclone Fani had made landfall at the Odisha coast.
Super Cyclonic Storm Amphan snaps off Patitapabana Bana
This year, the Patitapabana Bana had caught fire for the first time recently amid the coronavirus pandemic situation.
On March 19 evening, the holy flag tied to the metal wheel was reportedly reduced to ashes after it caught fire from a lamp that was placed near Nilachakra.
As per temple servitors, it was the first such incident in the history of the temple.
Meanwhile, the super cyclonic storm 'Amphan' in west-central Bay of Bengal is likely to weaken into an 'extremely severe cyclonic storm' by noon on Tuesday, the Met department said.
The system, which was situated 670 km south-southwest of Digha in West Bengal, is very likely to move north-northeastwards across northwest Bay of Bengal, and cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts in the afternoon or evening of Wednesday as a 'very severe cyclonic storm', the Met department said.
The weatherman said that 'Amphan' is expected to cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha in West Bengal and Hatiya islands in Bangladesh on May 20 as a very severe cyclonic storm, after losing some steam as it approaches landfall, with a maximum sustained wind speed of 155 to 165 kmph gusting to 180 kmph.
Gale wind speeds reaching 240 to 250 kmph were prevailing over west-central and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal, the Met office said, adding, it will gradually reduce to 200 to 210 kmph gusting to 230 kmph by Tuesday evening.
The Met department, which has issued an "orange message" for West Bengal, warned of extensive damage in Kolkata, Hooghly, Howrah, South and North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore districts.
There is likely to be disruption of rail and road link at several places, uprooting of communication and power poles and extensive damage to all types of 'kutcha' houses, the weatherman said.
Also Read | Cyclone Amphan: 6 West Bengal districts including Kolkata, Hooghly, others brace for severe storm
Also Read | Super cyclone Amphan may cause extensive damage on Bengal coast
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