Puri Servitors Demand A Museum For Protection & Maintenance Of ‘Parsva’ Dieties Idol

With the idols of 'Parsva' Deities (side deities/Ratha Sakhis) of the three chariots in Puri being damaged by termites due to lack of proper maintenance, servitors demanded the establishment of a museum for their conservation. The wooden figures of ‘Sakhi’, ‘Parshwa Devadevi’ and ‘Sarathi’ are generally crafted at the time of ‘Nabakalabera’. The disfigured ‘Sakhi’ idols were created at the time of 1996 Nabakalebara. During the last Rath Yatra, they were in good condition. When verified for their use in the upcoming Rath Yatra, the ‘Rupakar’ servitors found them to have been disfigured by termites. They even said that they don’t have enough time to construct them anew. Senior ‘Rupakar’ servitor (craftsman) Krushnachandra Mohapatra demanded a museum in the heritage project. He added that the Parswa Deities’ idols were damaged by termites. In 2020 when COVID-19 was at its peak, it was planned that the three chariots would be preserved. It was then planned to dismantle the chariots carefully and preserve the parts in a museum. Some senior servitors demanded that the temporary museum set up on the Jagannath Ballabh Mutt premises at the time of the heritage project’s inauguration should be transformed into a permanent museum to preserve the dismantled parts. Along with the servitors, devotees have also demanded a museum where they can see all the 25 ‘beshas’ of the deities. When asked, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said, “We will soon take a decision and initiate steps to preserve the ‘Sakhi’ idols and other side deities of the chariots.”

Published: Odishatv Bureau

Last updated: 28 June 2024, 01:12 PM IST