Temple decision triggers controversy

1,000 trees cut annually for three raths

A private firm has paid Rs 5 lakh to buy one of the 42 wheels of three chariots

The three giant-sized colourful chariots or raths that roll on the main street of Odisha’s temple town of Puri every year on the occasion of annual Jagannath Rath Yatra have always attracted devotees. Lakhs of people throng the temple town to be part of the famous week-long mega event while millions watch at home as the event is beamed by television channels.

Now, the devotees have an opportunity to own-- not the entire chariots-- some parts of them thanks to a decision taken by the Puri temple administration to sell the decorative portions of the three raths to interested buyers.

For the first time in the history of the 17th century temple--one of the top-most Hindu shrines in the country--such a decision has been taken. In fact, the process of selling parts of the three chariots that were used during last year’s rath yatra has already begun. And the response from the buyers has been excellent. “We have already finished the first round of the sale process and we will go for another round very shortly. The response from the devotees has been excellent so far,” said Puri temple public relations officer Laxmidhar Pujapanda.

Every year, the Odisha forest department chops over 1,000 trees to supply13,000 cubic feet wood worth over Rs 65 lakh to the Puri temple administration for building Nandighosa, Taladhwaja and Devidalana, the three wooden chariots of Jagannath (16 wheels), Balabhadra (14 wheels) and Subhadra (12 wheels) -- the presiding deities of the Puri temple.

After the rath yatra, the Puri temple administration would dismantle the three chariots and the wood was used in the temple kitchen--considered to be the biggest temple kitchen in the country which prepares mahaprasad for nearly a lakh of devotees every day. However, the dismantled portions of the last year’s chariots are preserved and kept in the temple office.

The temple administration had floated an expression of interest in the last week of March, inviting bidders to quote prices for chariot parts above the base price fixed by it for different decorative pieces. The temple officials were reluctant to divulge the names and details of those who came forward to take part in the bidding process during the first round.

However, sources in the temple administration said a private sector company offered a whopping Rs 5 lakh to buy one of the 42 big wooden wheels of the three chariots.
The base price of each wheel was fixed at just Rs 50,000. The wheel belonged to Nandighosa, the chariot of Jagannath, the most revered among the three presiding deities. Similarly, another devotee offered Rs 1 lakh to buy one of the remaining 41 wheels.

Expectedly, a section of the servitors of the important shrine has strongly opposed the temple administration’s new move. “The move is destroying the culture and tradition of the Jagannath temple. Therefore, the sale process should be stopped immediately,” said Ramakrishna Das Mohapatra, the president of Daitapati Nijog, one of the servitor groups of the shrine.

He apprehended that the sold parts of the three chariots could be used for commercial purpose. “The resale value of chariot parts is expected to go up  as there are lakhs of Jagannath devotees across the globe who would be keen to acquire them
considering their high religious value. One cannot rule out the possibility of the chariots parts being sold in the market like valuable paintings,” said the senior servitor.

Puri-based non-governmental organisation Jaga­nnath Sena, which has been raising issues relating to the top shrine, went one step further and said that the temple administration’s decision to sell the chariots parts could  be part of a “conspiracy” hatched by vested interests. “I will not be surprised if the chariot parts would find their way to other countries in the coming days,” Sena president P Patnaik said.

Even the devotees seem to be divided over the issue. “As such, the raths get dismantled after the car festival every year. So what is wrong if the temple administration decided to sell some parts of the dismantled raths to interested devotees. It should not hurt anybody’s sentiment,” said
Jagannath devotee Sanjog Rout.  

But there are others who feel that it is not proper for the temple administration to
break the tradition. “After the rath yatra, the dismantled parts of the three chariots are sent to the temple kitchen to be used for preparation of food for the three deities and their devotees. It is a tradition going on for centuries. Therefore, it should not be broken,” said another devotee Rina Jena. 

The temple officials have made it clear that adequate measures have been taken to stop the misuse of the sold chariot parts. “The buyers would give a written undertaking that they would worship the chariots parts and would not use them for commercial purposes,” added PRO Laxmidhar Pujapanda.