10,322 Quintals Of 'Arpan Rice' Auctioned At Rs 2.86 Cr

The Odisha government decided to auction the rice as it was declared unfit for Mahaprasad of Lord Jagannath for being stored in godowns.

Puri (Odisha): Around 10,322 quintals of "Arpan Rice" was auctioned fetching Rs 2.86 crore to the Puri Jagannath Temple fund. This rice was collected by the erstwhile government before Srimandira Parikrama project.

Puri District Collector and Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Deputy Chief Administrator Siddharth Shankar Swain said that the entire stock was bought by a rice mill owner from Nirmapada. Suresh Kumar Mohanty of Nimapada Ma Tardhana Rice Mill bought the entire stock of auctioned "Arpan Rice", Swain said.

A total of 14,017.23 quintals of rice was collected from devotees and brought to Puri. Of which, 4610.44 quintals were stored in Srigundicha Temple, 2618.07 quintals in Akshayapatra Foundation and 6788.72 quintals in Puri godown of the supply department. Around 3,856.84 quintals of rice from Srigundicha temple was given to Suar Mahasura Nijoga.

"It was decided to prepare 'Mahaprasad' from the Arpan rice and distribute it among devotees visiting Puri Jagannath Temple. Accordingly, Mahaprasad was prepared and distributed at the four gates of the temple. But after the change in government, the preparation and distribution of Mahaprasad was stopped. As a result, some of the rice was declared unfit for use as Mahaprasad and hence it was auctioned," Siddharth Shankar Swain, Puri District Collector said.

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