Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananada Saraswati of Govardhan Peeth, Puri is upset that he has not been consulted either by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator or the State Government for the Nabakalebar festival. The spiritual leader told reporters on the sidelines of a function at Panikoili in Jajpur that only Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingh Deb and some pundits of the Mukti Mandap have held courtesy talks with him.
“Neither the temple Chief Administrator nor the State Government has sought my advice on the Nabakalebar festival so far. Only the Gajapati Maharaja and Mukti Mandap pundits have held discussions with me,” said the Shankaracharya, who did not perform his rituals on the chariots during the last year’s Rath Yatra due to a dispute over access of devotees to the chariots. last year, present Chief Administrator and the then Officer-on-Special Duty Suresh Mohapatra had said that the Shankaracharya would be consulted before the Nabakalebar festival.