Senior servitor Damodar Mahasuar at the first meeting of the Ratha Yatra Coordination Committee also threatened to launch a hunger strike if steps were not taken to open the four doors of the Srimandir.
Sheldon was found in an inebriated condition on Puri beach earlier during the day. Some locals said Marine Police rescued Sheldon and took him to the police station. Later, his family members, who are staying at an ashram in Puri, took him after submitting an undertaking at the police station.
Today some visitors from West Bengal were allegedly allowed through the Western Gate through which only local residents are allowed.
A woman foreign tourist managed to enter the temple premises. While ascending the Baisi Pahacha(a flight of 22 steps), she was spotted by some servitors. She was being accompanied by a youth.
In order to alleviate the plight of devotees who wait on queues for hours in the open to have darshan of Lord Jagannath, the Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) had installed an air conditioned tunnel near the Singhadwara.
In the last two months, the electricity bills of the 84-metre long and 12-metre wide AC tunnel barricade were pegged at a whopping Rs 14.17 lakh. To reduce such a huge cost of power consumption, some devotees and servitors have suggested the use of solar energy.
Mahari dance will be organised every evening while Vedic mantras will be chanted near the Singhadwar every morning from 6 am to 7 am. Then ‘Nama Sankirtan’ will be orgnaised on Srimandir Parikrama Marg.
The state government has sought three weeks' time to submit the status report submitted by Justice Raghubir Das Commission which probed the Ratna Bhandar Keys Missing Case.
Devotees as well as servitors have demanded a Vigilance probe into the alleged corruption to the tune of crores of rupees in erecting temporary barricades for devotees in front of Puri Srimandir.
If the reply to RTI queries made by an activist is anything to go by, the Public Works department, Puri spent crores of rupees for just erecting temporary barricades.
Puri Srimandir management is once again in the news after alleged entry of some non-Hindus into the shrine on Sunday. At least four non-Hindus and that too from neighbouring Bangladesh entered Srimandir in Puri.
The alleged entry of non-Hindus into Puri Srimandir has acted as a wake-up call for the temple administration as security has been beefed up at the Singhadwar.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Puri, Sushil Mishra said, “We received complaints that some people of other religion entered the temple. We have detained the people who entered the temple. We are verifying their documents and looking into the matter. One of the detainees is a Hindu.”
In a piece of good news, Divyang devotees visiting Srimandir in Puri can now go inside the temple and have darshan of Lord Jagannath and His siblings.
ASI superintendent DB Garnaik said, “The conservation work of the Srimandir Nata Mandap has already been started. Many components of its conservation work like roof-tightening and leak plugging have been completed. The only work left is the repair of the cracked beam.”
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