After the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Tuesday issued notices to 11 sevayats in connection with the irregularities in Brahma Paribartan during the Nabakalebar of Lord Jagannath in 2015, a blame has begun between the chief carpenter of Debadalan chariot of Devi Subhadra, Krushna Chandra Maharana, who was in-charge of construction of new idols of the Holy Trinity, and the Daitapati sevayats.
Maharana said, “Had the Darus (tree logs meant for construction of idols of Lord Jagannath and His siblings) come early, we would have finished the construction works two to three days earlier. Secondly, the Daitapatis had selected the Darus keeping their interests in mind. They had selected bigger Darus without caring for the age of the trees so that they could sell and earn more.”
“The condition of all the four Darus was inferior; and so, it took us more time to sculpt the idols. “The Daitapatis had selected the Darus after taking money from villagers; so, they are fully responsible for the fiasco,” he alleged.
However, Daitapati Nijog joint secretary Binayak Das Mohapatra refuted the allegations.
“The total time for construction of idols of deities is 10 days but after wasting a day, the Maharanas got less time to sculpt the idols, due to which the ‘Purna Ahuti’ ritual by Gajapati Maharaj was also delayed by eight hours. The delay continued to affect all the rituals till the completion of the Brahma Paribartan itself,” said Mohapatra.
Besides, after the Brahma Paribartan, senior Daitapatis among us also had an argument which often happens. The entire Daitapati community is sorry for the delay which tarnished our image. We assure not to repeat such mistakes again and hope that Lord Jagannath and the devotees would forgive us,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Congress and the BJP have termed the allegations of fixing of selection of Darus serious and demanded a probe.
Congress spokesperson Bibhu Prasad Tarai said this is a very serious allegation if it is true. It should be investigated.
BJP spokesperson Pitambar Acharya said a high probe should be ordered and the persons responsible should be identified and made accountable.