BHUBANESWAR: Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Sunday said it will verify the CCTV footage to find out whether the Tahia of Lord Jagannath was damaged by devotees during ‘pahandi bije’.
Speaking to ‘Express,’ SJTA Chief Administrator Pradipta Mohapatra said the temple administration will verify the video footage to ascertain what exactly happened after Tahias were taken off. “Tahias were taken off safely and one Tahia (Lord Balabhadra’s) has been kept intact. I was present when Tahia of Lord Jagannath was taken off. Then I came back. Later, daitapatis untied it safely but some people played mischief when it was being taken to be handed over to the temple administration,” said Mohapatra.
On Saturday, Tahia of Lord Jagannath was allegedly damaged as some volunteers and devotees tried to tear it.
The SJTA has banned devotees from climbing chariots, touching deities and tearing the Tahias. However, it was alleged that some devotees tried to touch Lord Jagannath at the time when ‘Charamala’ was being withdrawn from Nandighosh. Taking advantage of being closer to the deity, the devotees attempted to touch the Lord. Some visitors also allegedly tried to touch Devi Subhadra near Srimandir during ‘pahandi’.
Mohapatra said this year’s Rath Yatra was incident-free. All the rituals were performed within time and as a result, the chariot pulling ritual could be completed ahead of schedule, he added.