Bhadrak: Rare idols and gold ornaments worth approximately Rs 5 crore were unearthed from the house of a servitor of the famous Akhandalamani Temple at Aradi in Odisha's Bhadrak district. 

According to reports, servitor Rabi Narayan Mishra, who resides near the Akhandalamani Temple, had encountered some unusual or strange occurrences at his home in the past few days. In this connection, he had discussed the matter with a priest namely Narottam Mishra. 

As per the instruction of the priest, a ritual was conducted at the servitor's home and later a large pit with 6X6 ft size width and lenth was dug upto 15 ft deep. They found a large size brass Handi, which contained idols of Lord Shiva, and His family as well as gold ornaments valued over Rs 5 crore. 

While the excavators claimed that the idols were made of gold, the servitor refuted the claim. He said that the idols found underground are of brass. He even declined the discovery of gold ornaments from the pit. 

The priest revealed the discovery after the servitor allegedly tried to suppress the matter. 

Eminent researcher Anil Dhir termed the recovery of idols and ornaments as a 'normal' incident. 

"There are many records of such incidents in many places where precious ornaments and idols were kept hidden in view of attacks by Mughals and Afghan invaders. The items recovered from the 15-ft-deep ground at the servitor's house might have been buried by someone under such circumstances and after his death, it became a mystery," Dhir told media. 

"Many such incidents have taken place in the past, but have not been reported yet. For the first time, it came to the fore," he said.