PURI:A day after being served a showcause notice by the temple administration over involvement in allowing a devotee atop the chariot of Lord Jagannath, Badagrahi of Lord Jagannath, Jagannath Swain Mohapatra, claimed that he has no role in the incident.
“I am being targeted by the temple chief administrator SC Mohapatra for reasons best known to him,” he told mediapersons here on Thursday. Swain Mohapatra cautioned that this step by the temple administration is likely to cause disturbance during the remaining phases of the festival.
Earlier on Wednesday night, a servitor of Jagannath temple, Kalijuga Artatran Pratihari, was suspended by Mohapatra for allowing a woman devotee atop the chariot of Lord Jagannath on Monday before Adapa Pahandi of the Lords. This was in violation of the Sri Jagnnath Temple Administration (SJTA) decision not to allow devotees climb the three chariots. A showcause was issued to Swain Mohapatra as he was accused of allowing the servitor to take the woman atop the chariot. Like Swain Mohapatra, Pratihari also pleaded innocence on Thursday.
2 Chariots Take South Turn
Two of the three chariots of the Trinity were on Thursday given a south turn called ‘Dakshina Moda’ and parked in front of the Nakachana Dwar, the exit gate of the Sri Gundicha temple.
At around 3.30 pm, the Debadalana chariot of Devi Subhadra was pulled backwards for 500 mts along the Grand Road towards Badasankha, then given a south turn and pulled towards Nakachana Dwar. Subsequently, the same ritual was followed for Lord Balabhadra’s Taladhwaja.
However, Lord Jagannath’s Nandighosha could not be given ‘Dakshina Moda’ as it was already 6 pm. The ritual would be followed for Nandighosha on Friday. On Saturday last, the Trinity began their annual nine-day sojourn from Sri Mandir to the Gundicha temple in their three gigantic chariots along the Grand Road.
According to the temple tradition, on the sixth day of the festival and the day following the Hera Panchami ritual, the chariots are turned around to face the Jagannath temple.
The Trinity along with Sudarshan, Ramakrushna and Madanmohan would board the three chariots and return to the main temple on Sunday.