For the second time in a week, Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Dev has put the ball squarely in the court of the State Government over the Brahma Parivartan ritual fiasco and the management of the affairs of the Jagannath Temple at large.“It is only the State Government, which has all the powers and resources at its command which can set the affairs of the temple right,” he told mediapersons during an interaction at his residence here on Wednesday.
Earlier, the Gajapati King had made a veiled criticism of the Government when, replying to a question if he would talk to the Chief Minister about the irregularities during the all-important ritual, he said, “He is the head of the Government. Doesn’t he already know about itIJ”
Giving a history of the temple and the changing roles of the Puri royal family, Dev said after Independence, the Gajapati has been reduced to just an ordinary citizen, who has no powers to do anything about the improprieties and the violations of traditions being committed in the temple.“The rights of the Gajapati King were abolished in 1803 during the British rule. Prior to this, the powers and jurisdiction of the Gajapati King were in jeopardy during the Moghul and Maratha rule. As the powers of the king were curtailed, there was gross mismanagement in the temple. The situation went to such an extent that during the post-Independence period, the king became an ordinary citizen. How can he manage the templeIJ” he asked.
He further said the mismanagement of the temple reached a climax after the Government took up the entire responsibility of the temple from the Gajapati King in 1960, five years after the enactment of the Shree Jagannath Temple Act in 1955.Dec said that like the Odisha Governments, the Governments in other States also took up the management of the major temples. While the other State Governments have made considerable improvement of the temples, including their maintenance and management, people of Odisha had expected the same from their Government, which, unfortunately did not happen due to several reasons. Whichever Government came to power after 1960 did not give priority to the tradition and problems of the temple. Since the Government has taken over the responsibility of the Shreemandir, it should give due priority to the state of affairs, administration and the tradition of the temple so that the problems are solved gradually, he observed.
The Maharaja said the Government should immediately take action against the erring Daitapati servitors responsible for the inordinate delay in the Brahma Parivartan of the deities on June 16.Asked about mobile phones being carried inside the temple, the king said, “Carrying mobile phones at the time of secret rituals of the lords is a crime of the highest order. If anyone has taken the mobile phone, stern action should be initiated against him.”
“I have been receiving several calls on this issue. A group of sadhus met me here today and had a threadbare discussion on the issue,” he said.
Whether there would be a judicial inquiry into the incident, he hoped that the temple administration would be able to complete the ongoing investigation in a time-bound manner and bring the truth to the limelight.
“It could be two weeks, one month or two months for the temple administration to complete its investigation. But if a judicial inquiry is conducted, it would take at least six months to be set up and the commission will submit its report in another six months, one year or two years. We want quick decision and action and cannot wait for long,” he said.
