New Rate Chart For Mahaprasad In Puri Jagannath Temple Soon

Puri: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) will soon announce new rates for Mahaprasad (cooked food offered to the Lords).

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting presided over by the SJTA chief administrator Pradipta Mahapatra on the temple premises here on Tuesday.

Representatives of the Suara and Mahasuara Nijog were present.

Talking to the mediapersons after the meeting, Mahapatra said the Suara and Mahasuara Nijog would soon take a decision on the price of the Mahaprasad for the devotees. “The meeting also decided that the temple administration will provide rice, dal, vegetables and other materials like the earthen pots and firewood to the Suara and Mahasuara Nijog,” he said.

As informed by the members of the Suara and Mahasuara Nijog and member of a Jagannath Temple Managing Committee, Ananta Tiadi, the new rates will be fixed after calculating the ancillary expenditure like wages provided to the persons, who fetch water from Ganga-Yamuna well inside the temple to the Rosa Ghara (temple kitchen), cost of the firewood and wages to the persons who carry the Mahaprasad from the temple to the Anand Bazaar after they are offered to the Lords.

Mahapatra further said that a grievance cell and a help desk would be set up at the Anand Bazaar inside the temple. The help desk will have the representatives of the SJTA and Suara and Mahasuara Nijogs, who will provide information to the devotees about the time of availability of the Mahaprasad. Besides, they will also receive complaints from the devotees on the same, he added.

Regarding the entry of unauthorized persons, who used to sell Mahaprasad at Anand Bazaar, he said steps would be taken to curtail this practice.

“The meeting also discussed the availability of the Mahaprasad for the Habishyalis (widows) at the Ananda Bazaar during Kartika Brata,” Mahapatra added.