TEN DAYS after he attended the inauguration of a Jagannath temple in West Bengal’s Digha, a senior servitor on the Puri Jagannath temple was on Sunday suspended by the temple authorities for a month for “demeaning the sanctity and dignity” of the twelfth century shrine, one among the many 4 dhams in Hinduism.
In response to the suspension order issued by Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator Arabinda Padhee, Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra has been debarred from collaborating in any temple ritual and in addition from coming into into temple premises for 30 days. Officers mentioned the disciplinary motion has been initiated as per the provisions of the Shri Jagannath Temple Act, 1955.
The order additionally warned towards any try to affect or intimidate different servitors or people which can impression the rituals of the temple. If he makes any such try, the suspension interval can be prolonged, in keeping with the order. Instruction has additionally been issued to observe his behaviour in the course of the suspension interval.
“The motion has been initiated to make sure self-discipline within the Jagannath Temple. It’s the obligation of everybody to uphold the sanctity of the shrine and traditions. Any type of indiscipline is not going to be tolerated,” mentioned Padhee.
Dasmohapatra, a senior servitor of Daitapati Nijog — the group that performs particular rituals in the course of the annual Rath Yatra — had participated within the inauguration of the Digha temple on April 30, and made some “contradictory statements” for which the SJTA had issued him a show-cause discover on Could 4.
The senior servitor was requested to elucidate the allegations relating to his interview to the media in West Bengal wherein he claimed to have supplied idols for the brand new shrine that have been comprised of the leftover wooden from the Nabakalebara rituals held in 2015.
Nabakalebara is a sacred ritual wherein the picket idols of the sibling deities are changed with new ones on the twelfth century shrine. The ritual is carried out at an interval of 12 or 19 years, coinciding with astronomical concerns.
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As his claims triggered a row, Dasmohapatra later contradicted his assertion, saying that the idols weren’t manufactured from the leftover wooden from the Nabakalebara ritual, and that he had supervised the crafting of the idols for the Digha temple.
An inside probe by the temple administration additionally discovered that no leftover wooden from the Nabakalebara ritual was used for crafting idols for the Digha shrine.
“The contradictory statements created confusion amongst devotees of Lord Jagannath, damage their sentiments and tarnished the dignity of the twelfth century Puri Jagannath Temple,” mentioned an official.
On Could 9, the SJTA issued one other show-cause to Dasmohapatra asking him to elucidate how, being a senior servitor, he participated within the consecration ceremony of the Digha temple regardless of it being named as “Jagannath Dham”.
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Naming of the Digha temple as Jagannth Dham has triggered a row with Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi lately asking his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee to rethink the choice, saying that referring to the brand new shrine as Dham dilutes “Puri’s distinct heritage”.
Puri’s erstwhile royal and chairman of the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee Dibyasingha Deb had additionally said that referring to the Digha temple as a dham quantities to violation of “scriptural injunctions and long-established custom”.
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