Puri: Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati on Sunday chaired a crucial meeting of all stakeholders to discuss the problems plaguing the Shree Jagannath Temple here, ahead of Supreme Court appointed Amicus Curiae Ranjit Kumar’s visit to Puri on February 22 over a case related to functioning of the 12th century shrine.
Temple Managing Committee Chairman Gajapati Dibyasingh Deb, who is also considered the first servitor of Lord Jagannath, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator Pradeepta Kumar Mohapatra, Puri Collector and SP, Endowment Commissioner, servitors attended the meeting.
Though the Shankaracharya invited Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Orissa High Court Chief Justice Kalpesh Satyendra Jhaveri, Law Minister Pratap Jena to attend the meeting none of them turned up, sources said.
The meeting discussed on several issues involving the temple like implementation of ongoing reforms, ensuring discipline in darshan, timely observance of rituals, gross irregularities committed in the ‘Brahma Parivartan’ ritual during the Nabakalebara festival in 2015 and disappearance of the Ratna Bhandar keys.
The outcome of the meeting would be conveyed to the Amicus Curiae for submitting his report to the Supreme Court. On January 9, the apex court appointed Kumar as Amicus Curiae to assist it in a matter related to administration of Jagannath temple.
