Puri: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has issued notice to a Pratihari servitor over alleged 30-minute delay in ‘Dwara Phita’ (door opening) ritual at the 12th-century shrine in Odisha’s pilgrim town of Puri.
According to the sources, the alleged incident took place on Friday and subsequently delayed other rituals of the Lords at the temple. Bada Dwara Pratihari sevayat Shivshankar Mohapatra was served the notice by evening under the SJTA’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy and asked to submit a reply within 7 days.
“The step taken by the SJTA chief administrator is certainly welcoming. I urge the officials to take similar action in case of any kind of deviation in the conduct of the rituals,” Madhav Mohapatra, a member of the Managing Committee, told the media.
He added that every servitor engaged in rituals of the Lords should be made accountable.
Pratihari Nijog has also welcomed the decision.
