The Shree Jagannath Temple managing body at its Tuesday meeting endorsed the Rath Yatra festival schedule prepared by the Chhatisha Nijog.
On the festival day, the pahandi of the deities would begin by 10 am, Chherapahanra by the Puri Gajapati Maharaja would be performed from 2 pm to 3 pm, while pulling of Raths would start by 3.30 pm.
The annual Rath Yatra of lord Jagannath, His elder Balabhadra and sister Subhadra would be held on June 25.
The temple body allowed the servitors’ families to have special darshan of the deities atop the chariots for a limited time while as per the Orissa High Court directive, devotees and other unauthorised persons would not be allowed to touch or climb the chariots during the Rath Yatra. The temple administration too warned a handful of servitors who violated discipline during the Hati Vesha.
The meeting emphasised that the servitors should refrain themselves from obstructing the full view of deities atop the Rathas. It was observed that some servitors were standing in front of the deities blocking darshan of the deities to the devotees. It was also resolved that if needed pulling would be conducted even after sunset with special lights.
This apart, the temple body resolved to renovate a number of old mutts at an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore which would be spent from the temple fund. The completion of the ongoing construction of school building for wards of servitors and houses for homeless servitors would be given priority. Sale of temple land and other endowments located in various places across the State would be disposed of.
The meeting also asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to cover the steel frames fixed in Jagamohan with stone artifacts to give it a better look. During repairs to Jagamohan, a number of steel frames, beams and columns were used to bring stability to the structure by the ASI.
Gajapati Dibyasingh Dev, the chairperson of the body, temple Chief Administrator PK Jena, District Magistrate Arabind Agarwal, SP Sarthak Sarangi, besides servitor representatives participated in the meeting.