Various bodies of priests and researchers on Wednesday demanded that the State Government take immediate steps for protecting the glory and dignity of the Jagadguru Shankaracharaya Gobardhan Pitha, Puri and make it a tourist spot.
“The Gobardhan Pitha was the first of the country’s four Pithas established by the Aadi Shankaryacharya 2500 years’ ego. While the dignity of the three Pithas at Dwaraka, Badrika and Srungeri have been upheld and placed in tourist map by the concerned State Governments, the Gobardhan Pitha remains neglected over the years,” alleged representatives at a joint Press conference here.
International Shankara Vedanta Advanced Research Institute (ISVARI)’s Dr Prafulla Kumar Rath, Veda Vigyana Samsthanam spokesperson Ajit Mohapatra, Temple Priests Sevaks and Purohits Welfare Sangh general secretary Pandit Debendra Rath, Jagannath Adhyatmaia Jagarana Manch convenor Dr Dhirendra Nanda and Mukti Mandap vice-presidents Umaballabha Mohapatra and Ashok Mohapata made the allegation and placed the above demands.
Arguing that the Shankaracharya of Gobardhan Pitha has every right to take decisions on rituals of the Shreemandir, the representative demanded that the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) refrain from interfering in the religious matters and allow the Jagadguru to look into such matters.
“The SJTA is persistently causing harm and endanger the spiritual sanctity of the Jagannath worship by getting biased by some self-interested servitors and demolishing all monasteries, which had emboldened the Jagannath culture,’ they alleged.
They demanded that all 11 acres of Swargadwar be restored from grabbers in favour of the real owner, Gobardhan Pitha at the earliest. They said the landed properties of the Pitha’s four branches, Siba Tirtha Matha, Gopal Tirtha Matha, Mahiprakash Matha and Shankarananda Math be freed from the Endowment Commission and recorded in the name of the Gobardhan Pitha.
They demanded that the whole of the Gobardhan Pitha be developed with adequate infrastructure and brought in the tourist map of the country.
Besides, they demanded that the Government protect and develops all the Mathas in Puri town and their branches elsewhere for the benefit of the Sanatana Dharma in general and Jagannath Culture in particular.