Mobiles Not Allowed On Chariots After Lord Balabhadra's Idol Falls During Rath Yatra Rituals

A committee has been set up to probe into the falling of Lord Balabhadra's idol on servitors during pahadi rituals. Later, Arabinda Padhee was appointed as the Chief Administrator of SJTA by replacing VV Yadav.

Puri:Servitors will not be allowed to carry mobile phones to the chariots or click selfies or pictures of the sibling deities, Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), Arabinda Padhee said after taking charge on Friday.

Padhee said some unauthorised persons have been found taking mobile phones on the chariots. Strict action will be taken against any indiscipline during the rituals, he said.

"No one can climb the chariot unless he is engaged in service. We seeks cooperation of servitors and are hopeful that they will cooperate with us so that nobody can tarnish our culture," he said.

"We apologise for Lord Balabhadra's chariot mishap during pahandi rituals. A committee has been formed to inquire into the matter. We will wait for the committee's report. The temple administration will certainly focus on it so that such incidents do not recur," he said.

On Tuesday, when Lord Balabhadra's idol was being brought down from the chariot to be taken to the Shree Gundicha Temple, it fell on the servitors, injuring 12 of them. It was stated that the number of sevayats was more than what was needed for the pahandi ritual.

Last night, Odisha government appointed Padhee as the new Chief Administrator of the SJTA by replacing senior IAS officer V V Yadav amid criticisms over the latter's absence during the incident.

A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) recommended by a high-level committee headed by Justice Biswanath Rath for the opening of Ratna Bhandar will be made public in a day or two. Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan said that the SOPs are being scrutinised and will be approved by the government within Saturday.

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