PURI: Generally a picture of hustle and bustle, Anand Bazaar in Sri Jagannath Temple at Puri wore a deserted look on Wednesday. Considered the biggest open-air eatery in the world where devotees jostle for Mahaprasad every day, the place, however, appeared lifeless on the day.The stalls that sell ‘Mahaprasad’ and ‘dry prasad’’ were found covered with polythene sheets, while some priests could be seen persuading devotees for ‘dakhina’ citing that donations on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya can bring them good fortune.
‘Baisi Pahacha’, the 22 steps which connect the Lion’s Gate of the temple to the main premises, was however crowded for sometime as devotees struggled to get ‘khichidi’ that was being served by a group of servitors.For the last three days, ‘Mahaprasad’ has not been prepared after a rift between Suar Mahasuar Nijog and the temple administration over unsold ‘Abadha’ after delay in rituals of the Trinity - Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra on April 16.
The body of cooks, which has the sole right of preparing ‘Mahaprasad’ in the 12th century shrine, demanded a `50 lakh compensation as the unsold ‘Abadha’ had to be buried as per the tradition.
This is perhaps for the first time that devotees were denied ‘Abadha’ on Akshaya Tritiya which is believed to be one of the most auspicious days in the Hindu calendar. The day also marks beginning of agriculture season and construction of chariots for Rath Yatra.
“I visit Jagannath temple at least once a month but never experienced such a situation. Whenever I visit the temple, I take plenty of ‘Mahaprasad’ packed for my family members back home. For the first time, I am returning empty-handed. No one is above the Lord and the law. Whoever is responsible must be dealt with iron hands,” said Bhubanananda Sahu, a resident of Patia in Bhubaneswar.Devotees from as far as West Bengal, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, who had come to witness the rituals, were left disheartened too.
“This is my first visit to Puri and I feel unlucky to have missed out on ‘Abadha’. I will stay back for one more day,” said Sambhunath Jha, a devotee from Rajasthan. Earlier in 2015 and 2011, a cease work agitation by the cooks had deprived ‘Mahaprasad’ to devotees. Around 600 cooks prepare ‘Mahaprasad’ for about 10,000 pilgrims everyday and on special occasions, the number touches one lakh. Nearly 20 quintals of rice and 10 quintals of dal besides other vegetables are used to cook the ‘Mahaprasad’ daily.