BHUBANESWAR/PURI: The much-awaited ‘Dhadi’ darshan in the Shree Jagannath Temple at Puri will soon be implemented with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi approving relocation of the ‘hundi’ (donation box) from the Natya Mandap of the 12th century shrine on Wednesday.
This was informed by Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan. “The trial run of the Dhadi darshan will begin this month. Due to delay in relocation, the dhadi darshan could not be implemented,” he said.
Harichandan further said after discussions with the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), a decision will be taken on the location where the ‘hundi’ will be shifted. “After this, the trial run of dhadi darshan will begin,” he informed.
Dhadi darshan will be a six-lane barricade system within the shrine and Natya Mandap. While the first lane is meant for differently-abled people, the second will be used by women and children. Similarly, the third lane will be used by elderly devotees while the rest will be meant for males. All devotees will stand on an elevated ramp near Bahara Katha to get a clear darshan of the deities in the sanctum sanctorum from the Natya Mandap.
Meanwhile, chief administrator of SJTA Arabinda Padhee informed that ornaments and precious stones of the holy Trinity will be shifted from the temporary strong rooms to the Ratna Bhandar of Srimandir on September 23.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Ratna Bhandar sub-committee which was chaired by Padhee on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by all the nine members of the sub-committee including Chhatisha Nijog chief Janardhan Pattajoshi Mahapatra.
The transfer of ornaments will take place between 7.17 am and 11.17 am, during which devotees will not be allowed darshan. While devotees may enter the temple during the process, access to the Natya Mandap and Bhitara Katha areas will remain restricted.
The shifting process will follow the SOPs issued by the state government. Only servitors on duty will be permitted to render temple services, with their names to be submitted to the Puri SP. All nine members of the sub-committee and two members of Ratna Bhandar inspection committee led by Justice Biswanath Rath will oversee the transfer.
The state government had constituted the 11-member committee in 2024 to supervise matters relating to the Ratna Bhandar. On July 16 and 19 last year, the Bahara and Bhitara Ratna Bhandars were opened and their contents moved to temporary strong rooms under the committee’s supervision.
Subsequently, on December 17 last year, the treasuries were handed over to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for repairs and conservation.
After the transfer on September 23, a fresh inventory of ornaments will be prepared and matched against the 1978 list, Padhee said.