After a four-day standoff between the servitors and the Shree Jagannath Tempe Administration (SJTA), devotees thronging the Shreemandir here on Friday were elated after all the rituals of the lords were normalised and Abhada (Mahaprasad) was made available to all.
The Ananda Bazaar, where the Mahaprasaid is sold, looked bustling and full of life after four days of closure. Devotees were seen jostling with each other to have the Mahaprasad and other Bhogs of the deities.
“After getting to know about the controversy from the media, we thought we would not get Abhada after darshan of the deities but felt lucky to find the Mahaprasad being sold,” said a devotee from Chhattisgarh. Similar views were echoed by almost all devotees on the availability of the Mahaprasad.
Normalcy also returned in the conduct of rituals as Sakala Dhoopa, Jatarangi Mahasnana and Madhyanna Dhoopa of the deities were carried out on time on the day.
Notably, there was a faceoff between the Suara-Mahasuar Nijog (temple cooks’ body) and the SJTA over the unsold Mahaprasad on April 16. The servitors’ body demanded Rs 50 lakh as compensation for the losses due to wastage of the Mahaprasad, but the SJTA stuck to its stand that if won’t pay compensation because the Mahaprasad was prepared for commercial purposes.
Earlier on Thursday, the Orissa High Court expressed displeasure over the non-availability of Mahaprasad and the delay in the deities’ rituals, following which the servitors’ body called off their protests and assured to cooperate in restoring normalcy in the functioning of the temple.