A Smooth System In Place For ‘Abhada’ Of Gundicha Temple In Puri

Picture Credit: Santosh Das

Puri: When Lord Jagannath and His siblings arrive at Gundicha temple for their annual sojourn, thousands of devotees throng the temple to partake the Mahaprasad or Abhada besides having the darshan of the Lords. This year also, they were not deprived of the Mahaprasad despite COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to a smooth system put in place by the temple administration keeping the coronavirus in view.

The people wanting to have the Abhada were asked to get tickets from the Temple Office near the Gajapati’s palace and then stand in a queue maintaining the mandatory social distance at the Gundicha Temple. When their turn came, they were handed over the Mahaprasad hygienically packed by the specific people designated for the task. The entire process has been followed strictly without any complaint from the people.

Here are reactions of some devotees and vendors regarding the Mahaprasad distribution system at Gundicha temple:

“I travelled 60 km from Bhubaneswar just to get some Mahaprasad for my aged parents who are patiently waiting back at home. I feel lucky to have got it amidst these troubled times,” said Murganka Mauli Patnaik, an advocate of Orissa High Court.

Expressing similar sentiments, Manas Ranjan Pattnaik said, “It’s simply a joy to be able to taste Mahaprasad after so many days. I am happy with the arrangements made by the Government and I think it couldn’t be safer than this given the current circumstances.”

One of the Mahaprasad vendors, Krushna Chandra Supakara, said, “I am happy that I could provide the services to the devotees. Mahaprasad is everyone’s birthright. It’s good that the Government has made such arrangements to serve the devotees.”