Puri: A standard operating procedure (SOP) will be issued for a hustle-free Pahandi Bije rituals of the deities- Lord Jagannath and siblings, informed Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator Arabinda Kumar Padhee.
While speaking to the newsmen, Padhee said, “A high-level administrative meeting was conducted under the chairmanship of Puri King Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb. As the managing committee is yet to be formed, the ex-officio members along with the concerned officials took part in the meeting today. Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja attended the meeting virtually.”
“A detailed discussion was held on the rituals and arrangements for the forthcoming Snana Purnima, Rath Yatra and Bahuda Yatra and subsequently they were approved,” he added.
He further said, “The meeting also seriously discussed on how to avoid the unfortunate incident that occurred in last Rath Yatra and it was decided to constitute a pahandi group for each ratha. The Shree Mandir Temple Administration has been assigned the task to decide how many members will be there on each pahandi group. A standard operating procedure (SOP) will be issued for the ritual. Besides, arrangements will be made for the peaceful and dhadi (queue) darshan system at the Natamandapa.”
The other major decision taken during the meeting is that we will apply to patent all the words or terms pertaining to Lord Jagannath like Shreemandir, Shree Jagannath Dham, Mahaprasad, logo of the Jagannath Temple, Srikhetra, Purushottam Dham and the like, Padhee mentioned.
“As people are constructing buildings around the Jagannath Temple as per their wishes affecting the heritage or the architectural look of the 12th century shrine, it was also decided to finalise a particular heights of the buildings, both the new and old ones. We will write to the Odisha Government and Urban Development Department in this regard,” the SJTA chief administrator said adding that as per the recent judgement of the Orissa High Court, a guideline will be issued soon to protect and preserve the land property of the Shreemandir. Besides, we will try to make use of the land as per the rules of the State government to generate revenue and increase temple’s corpus fund.
“Stricter action will be taken against the non-sevayats who climbs atop the chariots during the forthcoming Ratha Jatra. The sevayats who use mobile phone on the chariots will also face action,” Padhee warned.
