Rituals resumes at Puri Srimandir after around 10 hours of delay

Puri: Rituals of Lord Jagannath and his siblings resumed after around 10 hours of delay, informed chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Pradipta Kumar Mahapatra today.

According to Mahapatra, the rituals resumed after the servitors called off their agitation following the talks with the district and Temple Administration.  

The mangala-arati and general darshan of the deities will begin very soon, said the SJTA chief administrator.

No devotee will be deprived of the darshan of lord Jagannath as we have decided to allow the devotees to have the darshan till late night today and we have made all the necessary arrangements for the peaceful darshan of the deities, he added.

It is worthwhile to metnione here that the agitation of the servitors following a servitor-police face off over alleged manhandling of a ‘sevayat’ by some police personnel yesterday evening had led to massive disruption of the rituals of the deities today.

While the administration had set up barricades outside the temple gate this morning to avoid any untoward incident, the sevayats neither opened the doors of the temple nor conducted any rituals of the trinity. This had irked thousands of devotees who tried to forcibly enter the temple leading to a minor scuffle with the police personnel, who were deployed at the site.

Also Read: Rituals Delayed At Srimandir Over Cop-Servitor Face-Off, Devotees Break Barricades