Keeping Puri Jagannath temple open on Dec 31 night a conscious decision: Minister

Puri, Dec 29 (PTI) The Odisha government Monday said that the decision to keep the Shree Jagannath temple in Puri open after midnight on the occasion of the English New Year was a conscious one, taken keeping in view the huge rush of devotees.

The temple authorities have resolved that the temple doors will be opened around 2 am on January 1. Generally, devotees are allowed to enter the shrine at 4 am or 5 am, depending on the rituals.

Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said that it is noticed that around three to four times more number of devotees now a days visit the 12th-century shrine in Puri on different festivals, including the annual Rath yatra.

“Therefore, keeping in view the religious sentiments of the devotees, the administration has decided to keep the temple doors open on the night of December 31. I do not think there is any issue in it,” the minister said, adding that all the rituals will be followed and there would be no violation.

Meanwhile, the Puri district administration estimated that around 3.5 lakh to 4 lakh devotees could congregate in Puri to have darshan of the sibling deities -- Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath on the New year’s Day.

“Many devotees desire to start their new year with blessings of the Lord and therefore throng to Puri on the occasion,” a senior official said.

Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee, after a meeting, said, “The temple will not remain open all night on December 31. The temple doors will be opened at around 2 AM. The rituals will be maintained as usual.” However, a section of servitors and a member of the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee (SJTMC), the highest decision-making body of the shrine, have opposed the practice of keeping it open at midnight for the English New Year, which is not a festival according to the Hindu almanac.

SJTMC member Mahesh Kumar Sahu, in a letter to Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, the law minister and Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee, has requested not to keep the Lord awake all night on a non-festival day.

He has raised objections to the practice of keeping the temple door open all night.

Keeping the temple open on January 1 is “non-Sanatani” and incompatible with the long-established religious ethos of the shrine, Sahu mentioned in the letter. PTI AAM NN