Puri: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has urged the Dutta Mohapatra Nijog servitors to perform the ‘Banakalagi Niti’ of the Holy Trinity of Puri Srimandir on Wednesday instead of Thursday.
At the same time, the SJTA has warned the servitors that stern action will be taken in case of a violation of the order. In addition, the temple administration has stated that alternative arrangements will be made if the directive is not carried out.
Earlier, the SJTA had fixed Wednesday as the auspicious day for holding Banakalagi Niti of Lord Jagannath and his deity siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, but the Dutta Mohapatra Nijog servitors’ body pressed hard to conduct the ritual on Thursday.
“As per Satwa Lipi (Records of Rites of Puri Srimandir), ‘Banakalagi Niti’ and ‘Shrimukha Shrungara’ rituals of the deities should be conducted on Thursday. We had requested the SJTA to conduct the rituals on Thursday as per tradition. However, the administration has ordered us to carry out the rituals on Wednesday,” a senior Dutta Mohapatra servitor said.
“The Nijog got the letter from the SJTA about conducting the ritual today at around 10.00 pm on Tuesday. At least 12 hours is required for necessary preparations for ‘Banakalagi Niti’. We have not yet received the required stuff for the rituals. In this situation, how will we perform the rituals today?” he asked.
It is worth mentioning here that the dispute between the temple administration and Dutta Mohapatra Nijog had delayed the conduct of Banakalagi Niti of Lord Jagannath since Niladri Bije following the 11-day-long Ratha Yatra.
