PURI: Addressing concerns raised by devotees amidst confusion surrounding festival observances due to discrepancies among various almanacs, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) convened a meeting involving all almanac publishing houses and astronomers from the state, including those from the Srimandir on Monday.
The meeting aimed to rectify anomalies and streamline festival observances for the benefit of devotees.
The meeting reached a consensus that the annual Anasar ritual of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Devi Subhadra in Puri will span 13 days instead of the usual 15 this year, in accordance with the almanac. Even key rituals such as Ubha Yatra and Netra Utsav will proceed concurrently.
The deities will adorn new youthful attire and priests will perform all necessary rituals, but public darshan will not be permitted. Pana Sankranti, marking the birth anniversary of Hanuman, will be observed on April 14, within the precincts of the Srimandir. Similarly, Panchuka, the final five days of the Kartik Brat, has been reduced to four days. Consequently, the ceremonial Laxmi-Nrusingh Vesha, typically observed on the fifth day of the Panchuka, has been omitted. During these five days, the Trinity usually adorned five distinct veshas. Records from the Srimandir indicate similar celestial alignments occurred in 1959-60 and 1971-72. In response, the SJTA has opted to replicate the procedures followed during those periods for the observance of rites and rituals.
Prafulla Mishra, secretary of Muktimandap Pandit Sabha; Nilamadhab Dash, astronomer,MK Bisi, publisher of the astrological journal Bhagyalipi, Jagannath Rathsharma, editor of GN Tripathy publication, Dolagobind Panda, panjikar of Samant Chandrashekhar Panjika and Baikunthnath Nayak, a noted astronomer participated in the meeting.