Jagannath Temple Reforms: Amicus Curiae To Arrive In Puri On Sept 20

Puri: In the wake of the directive of the Supreme Court to the Odisha government to submit a report on its proposals for the on the reforms in Jagannath Temple in Puri, amicus curiae Gopal Subramaniam will arrive in the Pilgrim Town on September 20 to discuss the issues with the temple administration.

Informing this to the media here on Sunday, chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Pradipta Mohapatra said the amicus curiae will have a discussion with the Shankaracharya of the Gobardhan Peeth Swami Nischalananda Saraswati and the Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingh Deb on September 21 and 22. Besides, he will also discuss reforms proposals with the Chhatisha Nijog, SJTA and the Temple Managing Committee.

“Of the 12 proposals to be discussed during the meeting, the focus will be on three—Dana Dakshina, hereditary service of the servitors and amendment to the Jagannath Temple Act, which have been vehemently opposed by the Chhatisha Nijog,” Mohapatra said.

The apex court had appointed the amicus curiae and asked him to submit a report on September 5 on the implementation of these 12 reforms proposals after discussing these with the Shankaracharya, the Gajapati Maharaja, the servitors’ bodies, SJTA and the Temple Managing Committee. However, it got delayed as the Chhatisha Nijog during a meeting with the Temple Managing Committee on August 18 had said that since the Gajapati Maharaja had expressed the need to discuss these further in detail, the reports should be submitted to the apex court only after his return from the foreign tour.