By Sharat Jaisingh in Puri, July 27, 2015 : Even as lakhs of devotees from across the country on Monday witnessed Sunabesa (golden attire) of Lord Jagannath here, held a day after the three chariots reached the main temple ending the nine-day Rath Yatra festival, there seems to be no end to controversies over the Nabakalebara festival.

Pulling of chariots of Lord Jagannath and his elder brother Balabhadra after the sunset on Sunday has stirred hornet’s nest once again. The priests of Puri Jagannath temple and the district administration are once again at loggerheads over the pulling of chariots after sunset.

What has aggravated the issue is the insistence of the administration to ensure to put the chariots in front of Singhadwar on the same day.

The chariot of Lord Jagannath, Nandighose, was pulled under flood lights and reached the Lion’s gate at 9.15 PM which many servitors condemned for breach of tradition.

“There is no strict rule for the time when the chariots can be pulled. But there are instances when the chariots had been pulled under floodlights if required during the return Rath Yatra, since the very next day happens to be day when Sunabesa is observed,” chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Suresh Mohapatra said here.

Servitors of Jagannath Temple, however, have challenged Mohapatra’s contention saying that the timing of pulling of chariots is clearly recorded in Madlapanji [day-to-day diary of Jagannath Temple].

Main servitor of Lord Jagannath, Jagannath Swain Mohapatra said, “The temple administration is completely wrong in pulling the chariot of Lord Jagannath after sunset that too at 9 PM. This is clearly violative of age old tradition of the Temple. I was never consulted in this matter”.

However, the first Sunabesa of the new deities after the Nabakalebar (new body), Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath used to put on golden attire on the chariots every year in the “Ekadashi Tithi” of “Asadha” was on Monday concluded peacefully without any hiccup.

Lord Jagannath held a gold disc (Chakra) in his right hand and a silver conch in his left hand, while Lord Balabhadra was with a golden plough in his left hand and a golden mace in his right hand. Above 130 types of golden ornaments are used in the Sunabesa celebration.

Keeping in view the importance of the day and massive turn out at the holy town, the police had made elaborate arrangement to ensure smooth ‘darshan’ of the deities. One-way barricade is made for entry and exit of devotees who moved in a queue.

“A special barricade was also made around the three chariots where the armed policemen were deployed from security point of view. Magistrates are also posted inside the barricade,” Mohapatra said.

The Odisha police had deployed about 10,000 personnel for the smooth conduct of the Sunabesa ritual, said DGP Sanjeev Marik.