BHUBANESWAR: A dedicated food inspector will be appointed at Shree Jagannath temple, Puri, to check the quality of ‘Mahaprasad’ and ‘Sukhili bhoga’ cooked in the shrine’s kitchen and raw material used for the purpose including ghee.
Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan on Wednesday said that an SOP will be issued by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) soon.
Speaking to mediapersons, Harichandan said a dedicated food inspector will be appointed for Srimandir who will look into the quality of every food product that is being used for cooking ‘Mahaprasad’ in the temple. “In wake of the Tirupati controversy, we have decided to appoint a food inspector who will be stationed at the temple round-the-clock to ensure the quality of the Mahaprasad and dry prasad. He/she will also ensure use of good quality ghee for lighting of lamps within the temple premises,” he said.
Following the Tirupati laddu controversy, the SJTA on Tuesday issued an advisory to the Suara and Mahasuara Nijog of the shrine asking it to check the quality of ingredients used in preparation of Mahaprasad and other ‘bhogas’. The Suara and Mahasuara Nijog looks into the cooking and sale of Mahaprasad and different kinds of dry ‘bhoga’.
At present, although OMFED ghee is used in Srimandir to cook food, the supply is not regular which forces the servitors to often use other brands. On an average, 400 to 500 tins of ghee, each weighing 15 kg, are used in the temple kitchen to cook food for 50,000 to 60,000 people everyday.
On festivals, food is cooked for lakhs of devotees and sold through Ananda Bazaar which has around 120 shops - 70 selling Mahaprasad and nearly 50 selling ‘khaja’. During off-season, the number of shops comes down to between 50 and 30.