Delay in Banakalagi ritual: SJTA issues notice to servitors’ body citing non-cooperation

The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has issued a notice to the Dattamohapatra Nijog, a servitors’ body responsible for the Banakalagi ritual of Lord Jagannath.

The notice has been issued citing non-cooperation by the Nijog with the SJTA to conduct the ritual on time.

The Temple administration has directed the Nijog to reply within three days of time.

It is pertinent to mention here that it has been 20 days since Lord Jagannath and his siblings returned to their holy abode in Srimandir on Niladri Bije, but they are devoid of their holy ‘Sringaar’, otherwise known as the Banakalagi ritual.

As per the Srimandir Record of Rights, the ritual should be held at least four times a month, but a reported dispute between the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and the Dattamohapatra servitors has resulted in the disruption of the ritual.

Sources said, while the Dattamohapatra servitors keep insisting on conducting the ritual every Thursday, the SJTA has been keen on doing it on Wednesdays, hence the dispute.