BHUBANESWAR: The much-talked about floral decoration of Jagannath temple for Rath Yatra this year is under the scanner with Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) being accused of compromising conservation aspects of the protected shrine for pomp and show.
The four gates of Jagannath temple including Simhadwara, Nata Mandap, Bhoga Mandap and Kurma Bedha (inner enclosure) were decorated with 15 truckloads of different varieties of flowers. This apart, fruits like bananas, apples, oranges and pears have been used to decorate the Simhadwara and sculptures of two lions.
The entire decoration has been sponsored by a Delhi-based businessman K K Sharma. As many as 200 flower decorators were brought in by him to decorate the temple which is protected by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). It has been alleged that iron nails were used to tie ropes for the floral decoration. Apparently, permission for the decoration was given by the SJTA and not ASI which was not even informed about it. Further, the temple administration did not monitor the work.
The flower decorators, who have little knowledge about the weak monument, climbed atop the structure including the Simhadwara Gumuta which is already in a dilapidated condition with loose stones and weak beams, sources said. Superintending Engineer of ASI Bhubaneswar Circle, Arun Malik said ASI has nothing to do with decorations for religious purposes in the temple.
Decoration of Puri temple raises queries
“As per the agreement with SJTA and ASI norms, we can only look into the conservation and protection aspects of the shrine. There will be some amount of damage to the monument if nails have been used. We can only know how many nails have been driven into the structure and what is the extent of damage after the flowers are removed after Bahuda”, he said.
Malik has also written to the Director-General ASI on the issue. On the other hand, SJTA chief administrator PK Mohapatra dismissed the allegations as frivolous.“When you are decorating your house with flowers, you will need nails to hang the garlands. It does not do any damage to the house. The Jagannath temple is a huge structure and iron nails will certainly do no harm”, he said.
The administration has stated that the temple structure will continue to be decorated with fresh flowers and fruits through Bahuda and Sunabesha ceremonies of the Rath Yatra festival. Meanwhile, Nabakishore Rath, member of the core committee that examined the temple on Saturday, said there was no discussion about flower decorations.