A day after the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) decided to lease the Shreemandir’s Roshasala (kitchen) to the sevayats, the servitors’ bodies strongly opposed it on Sunday.
The sevayats said that under the guise of reforms, the temple administration is interfering in everything about the shrine. Earlier, it had asked them to stop collecting donations. If this continues, how they are going to earn their livelihood and feed their families, they asked.
They cannot perform service of lords in an empty stomach. They would have no other alternative but stop offering their services and give the keys to the Gajapati and leave, said sevayats.
Notably, at a meeting on Saturday regarding the Supreme Court’s proposals on reforms in the temple, the SJTA had decided to lease out the hearths of Jagannath temple kitchen to Suar Mahasuar Nijog for the period of one year.
There are over 200 hearths in the Jagannath temple kitchen and more than 600 cooks engaged in preparing different items served to lords as Mahaprasad and consumed by thousands of devotees every day. Meanwhile, a public hearing seeking proposals from general public and servitor associations in connection with the Supreme Court’s recommendations on Puri Srimandir reforms will be held here on August 10.
The SJTA issued a notification seeking suggestions and ideas during the hearing scheduled to be held between 11 am and 2 pm. The suggestions can either be made in writing or expressed verbally before a three-member expert panel set up by the State Government, informed sources.
The panel led by former temple administrator Suresh Chandra Mohapatra as its chairman, has two other members including Police IG Soumyendra Priyadarshi and temple managing committee member Mahimohan Tripathy.