Soul transfer fiasco: Temple widens probe to find guilty in Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR: With public outcry over 'bungling' of Nabakalebara rituals showing no sign of abating, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Saturday expanded the probe purview.
The body will now collect more information about priests responsible for Tuesday's 'unsavoury' incident inside the shrine, leading to considerable delay in Brahma Paribartan (soul transfer) of the deities.
Chief administrator of the SJTA Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said though nine servitors had since been served show-cause notice, he would invite statements from others in the know of what happened inside the temple shut from all sides for the Nabakalebara ritual. "The names of informants would be kept secret. All the statements would be judged on merit, based on which actions against erring persons would be decided," Mohapatra said here after meeting law minister Arun Sahoo. Sources said four priests, who conducted Brahma Paribartan, would appear before the SJTA authorities on Sunday separately to record their statements.
The SJTA decided to go for an inquiry after it came to light that more than the four priests had barged into the shrine complex and they clashed with each other, insisting to witness the Brahma Paribartan. There are reports of some of them carrying mobiles and taking pictures. The ritual was scheduled to be completed by Tuesday early morning because the Gajapati king, Dibyasingha Deb, was the last person to offer ghee on the ceremonial yagna that had been going since construction of new deities started on June 5. The king, SJTA sources said, had left the temple around 2.30am of Tuesday. The temple doors shut within half an hour. "The king returning from the temple means construction work of new deities had been completed and Brahma Paribartan, had the priests not got into an unpleasant act, would have been over by the dawn," said a temple official.
"We are investigating every allegation. Serious action will be taken against those found guilty," Mohapatra said. The SJTA Act Section 21 (A) prescribes suspension or dismissal from temple service. The law minister chose to keep mum even as mediapersons flooded him with queries.
"The government has lost its moral right to face the people. What happened in the Jagannath Temple is a reflection of government's arrogance and irresponsibility," said Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan (BJP) while the Congress demanded resignation of Sahoo.