BHUBANESWAR: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) will soon implement a special project - Amruta Anna - under which Srimandir Mahaprasad prepared from organic rice and vegetables will be made available for devotees.
A consultation meeting in this regard was held under the chairmanship of Srimandir administrator and Agriculture secretary Arabinda Kumar Padhee here on Wednesday where modalities of the Amruta Anna project were discussed.
In the initial phase, organic rice will be used in preparation of Kotha Bhoga at Srimandir, which will be available at the 12th-century shrine’s Ananda Bazaar. Officials said there is a proposal to open a special counter at Ananda Bazaar where the ‘Amruta Anna Mahaprasad’ can be sold.
Initially, organic rice varieties like Kalajeera, Pimpudibasa and Jubaraja, which are grown in the state, will be used for the preparations. Of these varieties, Kalajeera variety is a GI-tagged product and this year, it has been grown on 1,365 acre of land in Koraput. For the first time, Kalajeera rice mandi has also been opened in Kotpad.
This apart, there is a proposal to use organic rice and vegetables in the ‘bhoga’ prepared during the Shri Gundicha Rath Yatra. Officials said a steering committee will be formed to implement the Amruta Anna project smoothly. The committee will have representatives of Srimandir administration, Suar-Mahasuar Nijog members of the shrine, farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and Agriculture department officers.
The committee will encourage FPOs to produce organic rice, and to promote organic farming, provision of organic certification and subsidies to farmers is being proposed. Initially, the target is to produce organic rice on 100 to 200 acre of land and seeds will be saved, officials added. For organic cultivation of rice, organic fertilisers, cow dung and urine will be used.
The decision to use organic rice and vegetables in the Mahaprasad has been welcomed by the Suar-Mahasuar and Srimandir administration.
Among others, the meeting was attended by Agriculture director Prem Chandra Chaudhury, Puri collector Siddharth Shankar Swain, Srimandir Niti administrator Jitendra Kumar Sahu, SJTA administrator (development) Debabrata Sahu and Mahasuar sevayatas.
Earlier during the Krushi Odisha-2025 event, Padhee had informed of SJTA’s plan to use organic rice for preparation of Mahaprasad.
As a part of several reforms being brought in the management of Srimandir by both the state government and SJTA, it had been proposed to use only organic rice for preparation of the Mahaprasad that is offered to the Trinity. At present, normal rice is used in the temple kitchen which is produced using chemicals, fertilisers and pesticides.