SJTA Submits Report On Reforms In Puri Jagannath Temple To Odisha Govt

Puri: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) is reported to have submitted a report to the Odisha government informing it about the steps taken for reforms in the 12th century shrine in Puri.

The report has been submitted to the Law department by the SJTA in compliance with the directions of the Supreme Court, sources said.

The report stated that a permanent chief administrator has been appointed and a school and a Gurukul have been set up for the children of the servitors as part of steps to propagate Jagannath culture, they said.

Similarly, plans are afoot to construct a building to accommodate 60,000 pilgrims at a given time. On the other hand, the audit of the incomes and expenditures of the temple aren’t being conducted, the list of the properties of the deities in and outside the state has not been prepared.

However, rate chart of ‘Abadha’ (Mahaprasad) is yet to be put up in Ananda Bazar in Shree Jagannath Temple. No step has been taken so far to test the quality of the ‘Mahaprasad’, the report stated.

According to the report, the servitors have not been provided with identity cards for easy  identification. Similarly, no action is being taken against the unruly servitors who are responsible for ritual delay.

Similarly, suggestions regarding rituals of the deities are not being taken from Shankaracharya. There is no system in place to ensure devotees’ free and fair darshan of the deities. No estimation of the deities’ moveable and immovable assets has been done. The last inventory of ornaments kept in the Ratna Bhandar was made in 1978 and no inventory has since been done, it said.

It may be recalled here that the Supreme Court, while hearing a petition filed by Mrinalini Padhi, a lawyer from Cuttack, had on November 4, 2019 directed the SJTA to appoint a permanent administrator of the managing committee while passing an interim judgment on reforms in the shrine.