05-05-2025
Servitor Issued Notice Over Use Of Puri Jagannath Temple's Sacred Wood To Make Digha Idols
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Trouble started for Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra when he told some media channels that he had taken surplus neem wood from the 2015 Nabakalebar rituals at Puri Jagannath to Digha
Puri's Shree Jagannath Temple administration has served a show-cause notice to a senior servitor over allegedly using the shrine's surplus sacred wood in crafting idols in a temple at Digha in neighbouring West Bengal.
Servitor 'Daitapati Nijog' secretary Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra has been asked to submit his reply within seven days. The notice added that if a satisfactory explanation is not received within the specified period, Dasmohapatra will face disciplinary action as per the Shree Jagannath Temple Act-1955.
Trouble started for Dasmohapatra when he reportedly told some media channels in West Bengal that he had taken the surplus neem wood from the 2015 Nabakalebar rituals at Puri Jagannath temple to Digha for construction of idols.
However, he later denied making the claims. 'This is a false report. I have never told this to any news channel. My statements might have been morphed or intentionally edited. I just told the media that neem wood idols were consecrated at the newly built temple at Digha," he said.
Amid a row over the West Bengal government's portrayal of the Digha temple as 'Jagannath Dham' and alleged use of Puri shrine's surplus wood in the construction of idols there, Odisha's law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan on May 2 asked the SJTA to inquire into the matter.
'Nabakalebara' is a ritual held every 12 or 19 years, during which the wooden bodies of idols—Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath—are changed at the Puri temple. Dasmohapatra, who is known as Rajesh Daitapati in West Bengal, was also asked questions like who keeps the keys of the 'Daru Gruha", the store room in the Puri temple where sacred wood are kept, and whether 'Brahma' installation was made at Digha temple.
'Brahma' is a material considered to be the soul of Lord Jagannath, which is transferred from the old idol to a new one during the 'Nabakalebara' ritual.
(With agency inputs)
First Published:
May 05, 2025, 12:42 IST
