SJTA issues show-cause notice to Daitapati Nijog secretary over claim of Puri Daru use in Digha temple

New Indian Express

05-05-2025

PURI: Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Arabinda Padhee on Sunday served a show cause notice to the secretary of Daitapati Nijog Ramakrushna Dasmahapatra following his statement after the inauguration of Digha's Jagannath temple in West Bengal.
Apart from Ramakrushna, the SJTA chief also summoned the president of Daitapati Nijog Ganeswar Dasmahapatra and questioned the duo.
Ramakrushna has been asked to file his reply within seven days. If he fails to give a satisfactory reply, disciplinary action under the Shri Jagannath Temple Act, 1955 will be initiated against him. 'Being a senior servitor and secretary of the Daita Nijog, he should not have indulged in these activities. This has shocked devotees,' the SJTA notice stated.
After the meeting, Ganeswar told the press that he had answered all the questions posed by Padhee and assured to cooperate in the investigation.
Notably, Ramakrushna came under scanner after his interview with a TV channel in West Bengal which went viral. In the interview, Ramakrushna reportedly said the Daru (neem wood) that had remained unused during the Holy Trinity's Nabakalebara in Puri in 2015, was used for carving the deities in the Digha temple.
Sources said almost all the Nijogs have filed their statements on the issue by 5 pm on Sunday. Members of the Nijogs reportedly informed that they were not aware of any Daru being taken out of the temple's storeroom and called for a thorough investigation into the matter.
In his letter to Padhee, president of Chhatisha Nijog Janardan Pattajoshi Mahapatra pointed out a major flaw in the temple administrative procedure. He said as per tradition, the surplus Daru should have been stored in a designated room with the keys deposited with the temple administration. However, during the last Nabakalebar, the administration failed to collect the keys from the Daitas, raising suspicion about the removal of the neem wood. Pattajoshi called for an investigation into the matter.
Meanwhile, activist Jayant Kumar Das lodged a complaint with Singhadwar police accusing Ramakrushna Das Mahapatra of criminal breach of trust, cheating, dealing in stolen property, intentional insult to religious belief and criminal breach of trust. Convenor of Jagannath Sena Priya Darshan Patnaik also filed a similar complaint against Ramakrushna.