BARIPADA: The daily bhog rituals at the Banthia Jagannath Temple in Baripada have stoppped for the fourth day on Saturday following a payment dispute involving the Endowments department.
The traditional offering of laddoo, which is a key part of the temple’s rituals for the deities Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra, was interrupted because the sweet stall owner refused to supply the items. The stall owner claimed he had not received the overdue payment of `3.5 lakh for his services.
According to servitor Sunil Kumar Panda, this disruption is part of a larger issue of neglect by the Endowments department towards the temple’s daily rituals. Despite being informed about the problem since Thursday, the department failed to address the payment issue.
The situation worsened when another supplier warned that he would also stop providing bhog-related items if he did not receive the due payment of `10.5 lakh.
The lack of action has left the temple’s deities deprived of their daily offerings for last few days. The servitors are somehow managing the cooked prasad with their own arrangement.
Attempts to contact sub-collector Iswar C Naik proved futile, as his mobile phone went unanswered.