Jagannath Temple Reforms: Panel To Hold Public Hearing On August 10

Puri: A public hearing on the reforms of the Jagannath Temple will be held on August 10, said a notification issued by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) here on Sunday.

According to the notification, the hearing will be held between 11 am and 2 pm by a three-member committee in which the people and the temple servitors will give their opinion either verbally or they can give in writing.

The committee led by the former SJTA chief administrator Suresh Chandra Mohapatra has the IG Soumendra Priyadarshi and member of the Jagannath Temple Managing Committee Mahimohan Tripathy as other members.

After holding the public hearing, the committee, formed by the state government on June 14, will visit the Vaishno Devi Temple in Jammu and Kashmir, Golden Temple in Amritsar in Punjab and Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh to study the management of these temples.

The committee after its return will submit a report to the state government.

Notably, the state government had formed the committee following the directive of the Supreme Court to recommend the reform measures for the smooth management of the Jagannath temple following the allegations of harassment of the devotees by the servitors and irregularities in performing the rituals of the Lords.