Puri: The family of late Dr Subas Pani, IAS and former Odisha Chief Secretary, donated a sum of Rs 10 lakh to the Puri Jagannath Temple.
On the occasion of Ekadasi (January 29), Pani’s wife, daughter, brother and sister-in-law visited Jagannath temple to hand over Rs 10,11111 to Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), thereby fulfilling his last wish.
An ardent devotee of Lord Jagannath from a young age and an author, Pani wrote his PhD thesis on Geetagovinda.
His other works include Jagannatha Consciousness and Blue Hill, hymns to the Lord. His book ‘Ratha Yatra’ is a collector’s delight containing photogr
aphs and paintings backed by years of in-depth research on the great festival.
Pani also authored two seminal works in Odia on Jagannath and Geetagovinda. Numerous articles of his on Jagannath have been published in several magazines.
In the 1980s he facilitated the start of Doordarshan’s live telecast of Rath Yatra. When the telecast was expanded to include an English presentation, Pani was chosen to provide the live commentary, which he continued for a quarter of a century.
He composed music for a collection of hymns published in two sets of music CDs in Odia and Sanskrit on the occasion of Nabakalebara.
He also created a music composition for Geetagovinda, known as Sampoorna Geetagovinda brought out by SareGama Music.
Pani started Srikhetra Mahotsav during his stint as Odisha Chief Secreatry. to the Government of Odisha . This festival showcased Puri’s traditional art , culture and performing arts.
A committee member of Parikrama Prakalpa, Pani worked for the reorganisation of the Pracheena Jagah Akhadas.