A PIl was filed in the Odisha High Court on Monday urging the court to restrain the Chief Administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) at Puri from going ahead with the decision to feed lakhs of devotees with Mahaprasad on the Grand Road on June 27. Representatives of three social organisations have approached the High Court stating that the decision to feed the devotees with Mahaprasad on the Bada Danda in Western buffet style is against the age-old Jagannath culture and would belittle the sanctity of the Mahaprasad.
Alleging that a section of servitors are out to disparage the sentiments of crores of Jagannath devotees by bullying the Chief Administrator, the petitioners, Odisha Suraksha Sena, Centre for Education on Crime Prevention and Savitri Jana Seva, urged the court to intervene in the matter. The Temple Chief Administrator last week has decided to distribute Mahaprasad from buffet counters to lakhs of devotees on the Grand Road to commemorate the 13th day of the transformation of the Brahma of the lords. For this service, the Chief Administrator has also requested the public and organisations to donate generously to the SJTA, which too has come under massive public criticism.