Anandpur: Everywhere Sunday is a holiday for schools, courts and other government offices while Monday happens to be a working day for these institutions in Deogaon Circle. However, government rules are different in the Keonjhar district of Odisha where Monday is observed as a weekly holiday. This may sound unusual, but this a regular practice for the students here.
Not only one or two schools, as many as 42 primary schools in Deogaon Circle function during morning hours on Sunday, which is a normal holiday elsewhere.
For a long time, these schools remain open on Sundays while they observe Monday as a holiday. This happens to be an exception to prevalent government rules because of the local weekly market and heavy congregation in the ‘Mahadev’ (Lord Shiva) temple at Kushaleswar.
According to the teachers here, normal official rules had been changed keeping in view the safety of students and adverse impact on their studies due to the excessive gathering of people and noise at these places. AS per the directives of the High Court, schools in the area observe a weekly holiday on Monday instead of Sundays.
The Kushaleswar temple at Deogaon is the oldest Shiva temple of the district. This famous 40 ft high shrine was built by Emperor Jajati Keshari. He had also constructed a very high river embankment like the one on River Kathajori at Cuttack to save the temple from the ravages of Kusei river.
Kushaleswar happens to be the presiding deity for the people of nearby six panchayats.
A large number of devotees gather here every Monday to pay their obeisance to Lord Mahadev. A weekly market also opens for the devotees.
The teachers, parents and students have never complained in this regard.
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