Puri: Thousands of devotees from across the state Saturday visited Srigundicha temple here and paid obeisance to Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra at the Adapa Mandap.
The deities were taken to the Adapa Mandap of Srigundicha temple from their respective chariots through Pahandi procession, Friday.
According to sources, the Mangal Alati ritual of the deities was performed at 7 am Saturday. Devotees were allowed to visit the shrine immediately after the completion of Abakash ritual at 8.45 am.
“The Sahanamela (free) Darshan of the deities continued for two hours. Thousands of devotees partook in the Adapa Abadha (Prasad) after the performance of Sakala Dhoopa ritual at 2.15 pm,” said a servitor.
Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) public relations officer Laxmidhar Pujapanda said the Banakalagi (facial) ritual of the deities would be performed, Sunday.
“Dattamahapatra servitors would perform the secret ritual. No devotee would be allowed into the shrine after 9 pm Sunday,” Pujapanda said.
Row over nails
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has expressed displeasure over the use of nails for fixing garlands and flowers while decorating Srimandir on the occasion of Rath Yatra.
ASI sources claimed that the SJTA had not consulted the national conservator before allowing a Delhi-based devotee to decorate Srimandir with flowers. “Srimandir is a heritage structure. Several nails have been hammered into the temple walls to fix garlands and flowers. We may serve notice to the SJTA,” said an ASI official.
Srimandir superintending engineer Bindheswar Patra, however, downplayed the incident. “The thickness of Srimandir walls is around 20 inch. Nails cannot cause much harm to the temple walls,” he said.
