Puri: In an incident that is widely considered to be inauspicious across Odisha, the flag atop Lord Jagannath temple in Puri snapped off due to heavy winds Thursday morning.
The flag — popularly known as ‘Patitapabana Bana’ — tied to the ‘Neelachakra’ atop the temple was seen missing under impact of the winds that cyclone Fani has brought along to the town.
This is being replaced by the designated servitors on an emergency basis.
That said, the incident will not affect the rituals of the temple, said a temple servitor.
It may be mentioned here that the flag that was fixed atop the temple yesterday is a shorter than usual one.
Fearing threat to ‘Neelachakra’ from longer ‘Patitapabana bana’ due to the possible gale force winds under the impact of Fani, a shorter variant (five-hand long) of the flag had been affixed Wednesday. However, it snapped off Thursday.
PNN