Violence-hit Phulbani in Kandhamal district of Orissa is separated from Kanya Ashram in Jalespeta, where VHP leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati was killed, by a distance of 140 km. It’s a distance measured in violence, where burnt houses and churches are the new landmarks. Our correspondent and photographer follow the trail of hate and fear
SADARMENDI VILLAGE
Phulbani block
There is nothing to tell the churches apart from the houses here. A Catholic Church and an Orissa Baptist Church have both been pulled down, as have been rows of houses in this village. But a broken cross atop one of the crumpled churches gives its identity away. The doors and windows of the charred churches are missing. Inside, symbols of worship have been replaced with symbols of violence—piles of torn papers, charred wood and broken glass.
In the village, people hide behind charred houses that barely provide any shelter. A few come up to talk of the night of horrors.
According to villagers, on the night of August 25, hundreds of armed men surrounded the village, ransacked their homes and set them on fire. This time the violence was triggered by the murder of VHP leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati on August 23, but residents say this isn’t the first time their village has been attacked. “Last December too our village was burnt down. Please do something for us. Can you provide us some food, we do not have anything to eat,” says Tomma Digal, a daily wage labourer.
While the Christian homes were attacked, Digal says, a few of the Hindu houses that had the saffron flag flying atop were spared.
Tikabali village
The charred remains of a government jeep lie on the roadside, a short distance from the police station. About 20 houses in the vicinity are burnt as well. The Believers Church of Tengedapathar was ransacked, its porch pulled to the ground. There is no one around to pick up its pieces.

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