PURI: The Jagannath temple managing committee has decided to resume the 100-year-old tradition of offering 30 varieties of sweetmeats to the Trinity on the chariots after Bahuda Yatra. The decision was taken at a meeting attended by Chief Administrator Suresh Chandra Mohapatra on Monday.
As per the tradition, Suar Badus (temple cooks who prepare sweetmeats for deities) would prepare different varieties of cakes like ‘parijat’, ‘kakara’, ‘takara’, ‘manda’ and ‘jhili’ in a special kitchen of the main temple. Suara Badu Nijog president Raghunath Suar and secretary Biswanath Samantray have also agreed to the proposal of the temple managing body.
The cakes would be offered after the three chariots return from Gundicha temple in Bahuda Yatra. The deities stay on the chariots for four days before entering the sanctum sanctorum of the main temple during Niladri Bije.
Every year during these four days, the deities are offered ‘rasagulla bhog’, ‘adhar pana’ and other items. “Prior to 1912, the deities were offered 30 types of cakes on the chariots which was stopped but the reason for breaking the tradition is not known,” said the Nijog president.