Woman donates Rs 20 lakh to Puri Jagannath Temple, fulfils husband's last wish

A woman fulfilled her husband’s long-cherished desire by donating Rs 20 lakh to the Jagannath Temple in Puri.

Suprabha Panda, a resident of Basta Sadanandapur in Balasore district, sold her land measuring 24 decimal in Cuttack to get her husband’s last wish fulfilled.

Sources said, Suprava’s husband Pankaj Kant Panda, a commercial sale tax officer, was diagnosed with cancer in 2021. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Jagannath. During his last visit to the 12th century shrine, Pankaj Kant wanted to make some donation to the temple but before he could do anything about it, he succumbed to the fatal disease a few days later. 

However, Pankaj had reportedly shared his last wish to his wife before his death.

Suprabha in order to fulfil her husband’s wish sold a patch of land in Cuttack and donated Rs 20 lakh to Srimandir out of the money she earned from the deal.  Besides, she also donated Rs 15 lakh to Sambhunath High School at Basta.  

On her noble act, a septuagenarian Suprabha said, “Lord Jagannath is the creator of this Universe. We have survived today because He donates us air, food and water for our survival. I won't compare my offerings to donations rather it is my service to the Almighty."

My husband used to be an ardent devotee of Lord Jagannath. He retired from his job in 1998 but never retreated from helping others. I just fulfilled his wish by donating Rs 20 lakh to Srimandir. As he also used to give first priority to education, I also donated Rs 15 lakh to our village school to keep alive his memories.”