PURI: The Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium on Friday held discussions with Sankaracharya of Puri Gobardhan Peeth Swamy Neeschalananda Saraswati and other stakeholders over reforms in Jagannath temple.
Subramanium, who arrived at Puri on Thursday night, visited the 12th century shrine at about 5.25 am on Friday. After waiting patiently for Mangal Arati which was delayed by two hours, he offered prayers to Lord Jagannath and his siblings and surprisingly, even paid Dakshina to the servitor.Later at around 10 am, the amicus curiae went to Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) office where SJTA Chief Administrator PK Mohapatra explained to him about the record of rights (RoR) of the servitors and its effectiveness.
Mohapatra also informed Subramanium that of the 12 reform proposals suggested in the interim judgment of the apex court, consensus was reached on nine points. However, the proposals to abolish hereditary rights of servitors, end collection of Dakshina and donation by servitors and amendment to the existing Sri Jagannath Temple Act were being opposed.
The three-member panel comprising Additional Chief Secretary of Forest and Environment department S C Mahapatra, managing body member Mahimohan Tripathy and IG of Police Soumendra Priyadarshi, who visited Tirupati, Akshardham and other important shrines of the country as per the direction of the apex court, informed the amicus curiae that Puri temple is unique and its traditions are different from other temples.
The panel advocated against abolition of hereditary rights of servitors and reduction of the number of servitors. It also pleaded for introduction of queue system in the temple at the earliest.The amicus curiae also held talks with District Magistrate and Collector Jyotiprakash Das and SP Sarthak Sarangi for over two hours. Later in the afternoon, he met the Puri Sankaracharya and had a closed door meeting with the seer for over an hour.
Following the meeting, Subramanium said the seer apprised him about the prevailing traditions and rituals in the Jagannath temple and suggested to bring some reforms.Later in the night, the amicus curiae held discussions with the Secretary of the Law department and district judge Ambuj Mohan Das. Subramanium is scheduled to meet Gajapati Dibyasingh Deb on Saturday. He is also likely to meet the temple managing committee and interact with the Chhatisha Nijog.