PURI: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has resolved to rationalise the rate of ‘Mahaprasad’ and bring discipline in the Ananda Bazar located inside the temple premises. This was decided at a meeting of all stakeholders here on Friday.Owing to frequent tussles between Supakara Nijog (cooks) and hawkers with the buyers at the bazaar, devotees had been demanding to fix the price of Mahaprasad since long.
An 11-member team comprising all three administrators, sub-collector, temple security chief, three management committee members, police inspector of Simhadwar police station, president and secretary of Supakara Nijog (association of temple cooks) was constituted to look into the matter and furnish a proposal within a week.
Over 500 cooks operate in the temple kitchen along with another 500 support staff to prepare the commercial bhog while hawkers are engaged for marketing at the sales counters. These hawkers, mostly non-servitors, allegedly misbehave with pilgrims frequently when they refuse to buy from their counter in the Ananda Bazar.
Sources said, the Supakara cooks make huge quantity of prasad daily and after offering to deity, sell the same in Ananda Bazar to devotees. During festivals and auspicious occasions, they cook more quantity of bhog and sell at high prices. Even the Supakaras also end up fighting with buyers over price.
Briefing newspersons, chief administrator Ranjan Kumar Das said that the committee has been given the task to discuss pricing issue with the Supakaras and stop them from engaging hawkers to sell Mahaprasad in Ananda Bazar. “A chart displaying rates of every item of Mahaprasad dishes will be made mandatory for each sales counter,” he informed, adding, the committee will also suggest improvement of sanitation and drinking water facility in the area.
After discussion with the Supakaras, the members of the committee will present the rate chart before the temple management committee for approval. Once approved, the rates will be enforced, Das stated. “Apart from mandatory display of rate chart, the quality will also be checked,” Das added.
Besides, the meeting decided to install a police help desk for devotees in the Ananda Bazar, Das informed. Assuring to cooperate with the administration to improve all-round condition of Ananda Bazar, Narayan Mahasuar, the secretary of Supakara Nijog demanded the administration to open a ‘khaja’ and dry Mahaprasad counter at the north gate of the temple.