Jagannath Temple Temporary staff on dharna Demanding wage hike, Regularisation

Temporary employees of the Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s pilgrim town of Puri are on an indefinite dharna in front of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) office beginning today demanding fulfillment of their two-point charter of demands.

The 243 temporary employees of the temple are demanding regularization of their jobs and a hike in their wages. They have however, made it clear that their agitation will in no way affect the daily rituals of the Lords.

Apart from the Class III and Class IV employees of the temple, employees engaged as watch and ward staff have also joined the agitation.

Those on dharna were seen with placards in their hands and were shouting slogans in support of their demands.

“We are demanding a minimum salary of Rs 15,000 for Class III employees and Rs 13,000 for Class IV employees. We will continue with our dharna indefinitely till the government agrees to fulfill our demands. But we wish to make it clear that the rituals of the Lords will not be affected by our dharna. We want a commitment from the government in writing,” said Durga Madhab Mishra, president of Shree Mandir Employees Association.

Info Source

Read More

Russian sorry for taking Puri temple snaps

BHUBANESWAR: A tourist from Russia had a harrowing time while taking photographs of Jagannath Temple in Puri by climbing atop a watchtower on Friday. The 28-year-old Russian, Sergei Ivanov, who identified himself as a civil engineer from Moscow apologized to police and was let off.

While the 12th century shrine is off limits to non-Hindus, there is restriction on visitors to climb the watchtower, meant for police. At present, it is being repaired. "There was no policeman at the watchtower, whose gate was open. There was signboard about restriction. I had no idea about the rule," said Ivanov.

A shrine servitor spotted him taking photographs in the morning and informed the temple police. He was immediately taken to the temple office where police verified his credentials. "We checked his passport and visa, which are valid. The photographs were deleted from his camera. Since there is no law to punish anyone if anybody clicks photographs by climbing the watchtower, we allowed him to go," said SP (Puri) Ashish Kumar Singh. 

Considering the "no entry" diktat for non-Hindus to Jagannath Temple, the shrine administration in 2006 announced to erect an elevated platform outside the temple to facilitate foreigners to take photographs. But the announcement fell by the wayside.

Till recently, non-Hindus used to climb the Emar mutt for a view of the Jagannath Temple. Now portions of the mutt were pulled down as it turned unsafe. In the past, a host of non-Hindu dignitaries like former Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and envoys of Thailand, Japan, Norway, Italy and New Zealand viewed the inner complex of the shrine from the terrace of a library, located in the mutt.

Recently, the tourism department toyed with the idea of constructing a replica of the Jagannath Temple to help non-Hindus have a feel of the shrine.

Info source

Read More

Cracks Found in Jagannath Temple, ASI Asked to Repair

PURI: Two big cracks have been found in the ‘jagamohan’ of the 12th Century Jagannath temple. The cracks were noticed on the north east wall and roof of the structure during the ongoing de-plastering work.

A technical committee appointed by the State Government to look into repair and renovation work being carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) reviewed the ongoing works on Thursday.
The team, led by Dharmu Prasad Mishra, has asked the ASI to repair the cracks within a week.
Speaking to mediapersons, Mishra expressed concern over the slow pace of repair and restoration work by the ASI at the temple. Works like de-plastering of ‘jagamohan’, chemical treatment of the main temple and replacement of damaged stones from the ground floor of the shrine are still incomplete, he pointed out.

Earlier this year, the Centre had asked ASI to complete the conservation and restoration works at the Jagannath temple by December, much ahead of the Nabakalebara festival in June next year.

“Although ASI had assured to complete the work and remove scaffoldings from the temple by the month end, chances of it seem remote,” said Mishra.

Superintendent of the ASI, Bhubaneswar circle, Bhuban Bikram, was present during the review along with senior officers of the temple administration.

Read More

Non-Hindu pays fine for entering temple

Odisha Channel Bureau
Kendrapara, Dec 15: A non-Hindu was allegedly forced to cough up Rs 10,000 penalty for ‘trespassing’ into 300-year-old Baldevjew temple here.

Daily rituals of the deity were affected yesterday after a section of servitors identified a man from a minority community who had made his way into the temple.

Non-Hindus are barred from gaining entry into the Baldevjew temple as it is the case in Puri Jagannath temple.

The ‘bhog’ (offering) had to be dumped as the temple was desecrated following the entry of the non-Hindu. A ritual to purify the temple was later held.

The ‘intruder’ was detained and was later let off after he paid Rs 10,000, said sources.

As a non-Hindu had entered into the temple, daily ritual was affected. A puja had to be held later to consecrate the temple.

As per the tradition, only Hindus irrespective of caste barrier can make their way to the temple for darshan.

In past, there are instances of non-Hindus desecrating the temple by act of trespassing.

Purification ceremony had been held then to restore sanctity and sacredness of the temple, said servitors.

Info Source

Read More

Nabakalebara Panel Reviews Infra Works

PURI: Head of the Nabakalebara Infrastructure Supervision Committee (NISC), Maheswar Mohanty, on Saturday reviewed the progress made into various infrastructure works being implemented for the Nabakalebara of the Trinity.

The Nava-kalevera ceremony at Lord Jagannath temple

In a meeting with the officials of Roads and Building, PHD, Electricity and NHAI, Mohanty expressed concern at the poor execution of sewerage works in Puri. Not even 50 per cent of sewerage works in the Pilgrim Town have been completed so far.

Officials informed that double tracking of the 18-km railway track between Sakhigopal and Puri has been put on fast track and is expected to be completed by May next year.

This apart, ongoing work on erection of the railway over-bridge at Samjajapur near Chandanpur along the Puri-Bhubaneswar National Highway would be completed by March, railway officials informed the committee. Similarly, four-laning of Puri-Bhubaneswar highway by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) would be completed before March.

The committee also discussed the ongoing works in health sector. Health officials presented reports on several healthcare projects being executed to augment the system before the fete. It includes an additional 500 beds with trauma care facilities in various hospitals of Puri and upgradation of six primary health centres (PHCs) along the Puri-Bhubaneswar route.

Chief Administrator of Jagannath temple, Bikash Mahapatra was present.

Nabakalebara is an important festival of the 12th century shrine as the idols of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are to be replaced with a new set of idols.

Info Source

Read More

President pays obeisance at Puri's Jagannath temple

President Pranab Mukherjee today visited the famous Jagannath temple here and performed 'puja' at the 12th century shrine.

The President was here as part of the last leg of his three-day visit to West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha.

Special arrangements were made for his visit at the famous temple which gets a large number of devotees daily, officials said.

Authorities restricted general public from visiting the temple for some time to facilitate smooth 'darshan' by the President.

Mukherjee spent about half-an-hour in the temple, which consists of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra deities.

The President was accompanied by his son and Lok Sabha MP from Jangipur (West Bengal), Abhijit, Minister for Finance and Public Enterprises, Odisha, Pradip Kumar Amat and officials of Rashtrapati Bhavan and the state government.

Info Source

Read More

Odisha to make Documentary on Nabakalebara

BHUBANESWAR: The tourism department has decided to make a documentary on Nabakalebara (creation of new idols of deities), scheduled to be observed at the Jagannath Temple in Puri in July 2015. The department will engage a reputed filmmaker for it. "Selection of filmmaker or production house will be made in a transparent manner. We are all set to float an expression of interest for it," said tourism secretary Arvind Padhee on Wednesday.

"The film will cover the sequences and rituals of Nabakalebara. The production house will select artists," said Padhee.

The movie's duration is likely to be limited to one hour and it will be produced in both Odia and English. "It will be a promotional film on Nabakalebara, which was last observed in 1996. Since there was no pictorial or videographic feed of the last festival, we decided to shoot the next year's festival," said Padhee. "We can use the film to promote Odisha tourism," said Padhee, the former chief administrator of the 12th century shrine.

The temple administration recently formed a committee to chalk out a communication strategy for the festival.

There is also a plan to engage a brand ambassador. For the smooth stay of tourists, the state government has decided to augment accommodation facilities in Puri.

"Temporary accommodations will be constructed for around one lakh pilgrims. Owners of lodgings, dharmasalas and hotels have been asked to complete repair and sanitation works well before Nabakalebara," said a senior officer. At present, around 19,886 beds are available in 350-odd hotels. It will be increased to 30,000. Around 32 new hotels will come up by Nabakalebara, which will provide around 4,000 beds.

Info Source

Read More