Three-tier mechanism soon to streamline rituals at Puri Srimandir

Puri: Drawing lessons from the recent disruptions in rituals at Puri Srimandir, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has decided to introduce a three-layer supervision mechanism to ensure that all rituals are conducted as per schedule. Informing about the development, SJTA chief administrator Pradipta Mohapatra today stated that special arrangements have been made to streamline the conduct of daily rituals right from the opening of temple gates, 'sakala dhupa,' 'sandhya dhupa' till 'pahuda' everyday.

“Right from the opening of the gates in morning till the 'pahuda,' all the rituals will be supervised under a three-tier mechanism. A committee will be reconstituted to supervise the conduct of the rituals,” said Mohapatra.

Temple officials further informed that software has been installed to ensure that the rituals are conducted as per schedule inside the temple. A delay in 15 minutes will attract a 25% deduction in salary of concerned servitors; 50% for 30 minutes and if there is a delay of 1 hour, whole day's remuneration will be deducted, informed sources.

Apart from streamlining rituals, a decision regarding construction of an interpretation centre at Jagannath Ballabh Matha was also taken today. The interpretation centre is likely to be completed by 2020.

“All relevant information regarding the rituals of the Lord, the Rath Yatra and about the temple will be made available at the interpretation centre. A meeting with Tourism department officials and other stake holders has been convened on February 5 to review the status of the project,” Mohapatra added.

It is pertinent to mention here that there was a massive public outcry after disruption of rituals for over 10 hours at Puri Srimandir owing to a dispute between servitors and police personnel on December 28 last year.

SJTA officials have issued show-cause notice to 18 servitors and 16 others have been asked to provide facts and information in connection with the incident.