By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, July 21, 2016 : The Odisha government on Thursday constituted a one-member judicial commission to bring reforms in the management of the Lord Jagannath temple in Puri to investigate into the lapses in the management of the return festival of the Lord Jagannath to the Temple.

The commission will be headed by former High Court Justice Bimal Prasad Das and assisted by former chief administrator of Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Mahimohan Tripathy, Law Minister Arun Sahu said.

“Shri Jagannath temple is an important religious destination and pride of Odisha. The state government is always concerned about better administration and safety of the Jagannath temple. In view of the Shir Jagannath Temple Act, 1952 and Shir Jagannath Temple Act, 1955 have been implemented. It has come to the notice that rituals have been delayed in the recent past. In order to streamline it, a Commission has been set up as per Shir Jagannath Temple Act, 1952. The Commission would give suggestions on disciplined rituals, darshan of deities, security arrangements, training and education to servitors, conservation of heritage and propagation of Jagannath culture,” Law Minister Arun Sahu added.

A select group of servitors have been accused of defying the ban imposed by the SJTA following the High Court order not to climb atop the chariots during the annual Rath Yatra fes
tival. When the District Collector Arvind Agarwal confronted the servitor Damodar Mahasuar while he was climbing down the Taladhwaja chariot with his daughter, an uproarious scene was witnes
sed where a group of servitors allegedly threatened Agarwal, hurled abuses and tried to intimidate him.

Besides, a scuffle also ensued between the servitors and the journalists who were capturing the incident. Following this, the district administration filed FIRs against the wrong-doers and at least six servitors have been arrested so far. The police are on the lookout for the others named in the FIRs.