Bhubaneswar: A three-member committee has been constituted to probe the mishap during the Pahandi of Lord Balabadhra for Adap Mandap Bije on Tuesday evening.
The temple administration has formed the panel comprising ADM, Administrator (Development), and an officer of DSP rank in the meeting of the temple management committee. The Panel will submit a report within 10 days of Niladri Bije, SJTA chief administrator Vir Vikram Yadav said.
“At the beginning of the meeting, all the servitors expressed regret over the incident that took place on Tuesday evening. We have discussed the matter in detail and agreed to form a committee of three members to probe the incident. The committee comprising of an ADM, DSP and administrator (development) will examine the CCTV footages and Drone shots. The committee has been asked to submit the report 10 days after the Niladri Bije,” Yadav said.
Puri Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingh Dev also expressed concern over the incident. “The incident that happened yesterday has hurt all Jagannath devotees from across the world. We have never seen such an incident earlier. The temple administration will probe into the matter. The servitors will be more careful to prevent repetition in future. The servitors have learnt from the incident,” he said.
In the meeting, discussion was also held on the number of servitors on chariots and during Pahandi Bije. The managing committee will meet again after Niladri Bije and discuss in detail how to prevent such incidents in future, the king said.
On Tuesday evening, the holy idol of Lord Balabhadra fell on the ramp (charamala) of his chariot when the idol was being taken out from the chariot in Pahandi. Seven servitors involved in the rituals were injured in the incident.
The incident occurred shortly after 9 pm when the heavy wooden idol was being brought down to be taken to the Gundicha temple.
