BHUBANESWAR: Devotees or organisations who wish to own a piece of the three chariots of the Trinity - Nandighosa, Debadalana and Taladhwaja - after the Rath Yatra will have to pay more this year.
The prices have been significantly increased owing to the rising demand for the wooden wheels and decorative panels of the three chariots from devotees, organisations and industrial houses.
The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) recently released an expression of interest and prepared a standard operating procedure (SOP) for allotment of the wheels, ‘prabha’, ‘kona guja’ and ‘asuari’ of the three chariots.
The temple administration has fixed the offset (base) price for auction of each wheel of Lord Balabhadra’s Taladhwaja at Rs 2 lakh, while it is Rs 1.5 lakh per wheel of Devi Subhadra’s Debadalana and Rs 3 lakh per wheel of Lord Jagannath’s Nandighosa.
The base price for one wheel each of all the three chariots has been set at Rs 6 lakh. Similarly, while the price of ‘prabha’ of each chariot is Rs 25,000 each, that of both ‘guja’ and ‘asuari’ is Rs 15,000 each, this year. The cost of ‘guja’ and ‘asuari’ have also been increased by Rs 5,000 compared to last year.
SJTA sources said, the price of the chariots’ wheels has been increased owing to the high demand. Last year, the price was Rs 60,000 per wheel of Taladhwaja, Rs 50,000 per wheel of Debadalana and Rs 1 lakh per wheel of Nandighosa.
As per the SOP, people interested in purchasing parts of the chariots will have to submit an application for every chariot component with the requisite fees of Rs 1,000 by September 15. After September 15, devotees or organisations who offer the highest bid above the offset price will be selected.
Temple chief administrator Arabinda Padhee, who had initiated the practice of auctioning the chariots’ components in 2012, said the SJTA will collect an undertaking that buyers will worship the parts of the chariots, upkeep them with sanctity and not re-sell, transfer or misuse them.
Construction of the three chariots is currently underway at the Rath Khala (construction site) on Grand Road in front of Srimandir. More than 200 temple carpenters are carrying out the work, which started on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, using traditional techniques.
Price breakdown
A Wheel of Nandighosa - Rs 3 lakh
A Wheel of Taladhwaja - Rs 2 lakh
A Wheel of Debadalana - Rs 1.5 lakh
Guja of every chariot - Rs 15,000
Asuari of every chariot - Rs 15,000
Prabha of every chariot - Rs 25,000