Snana Jatra In Puri With Limited Number Of Sevayats Likely

Puri: The possibility of the Snana Jatra of the deities of Shree Jagannath temple in Puri seems brighter following a meeting of chief administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Krishan Kumar with the representatives of 10 sevayat bodies (Nijogs) on Thursday.

Briefing the mediapersons after the meeting, Kumar said the meeting unanimously proposed to conduct the Snana Jatra of the Lords with a limited number of sevayats in accordance with the social distancing guidelines.

“It was decided that the sevayat bodies will give a list of sevayats to be engaged in the rituals to the SJTA by May 25. On the basis of the list, the temple administration will finalise the names of the sevayats,” he added.

Stating that the temple administration had a discussion with the Daitapati Nijog on the matter, Kumar said there will be another meeting with the Chhattisha Nijog while the final decision will be taken at the meeting of the Temple Managing Committee.

Asked about the other rituals of the Lords to be held outside the temple, he said these rituals cannot be held as per the present lockdown guidelines.

“Any decision in this regard can be taken after the Central government issues fresh guidelines following the lifting of the fourth-phase lockdown on May 31. We will wait till then,” Kumar said.