ODISHA, INDIA, June 28, 2015 (Hindustan Times): A Congress-sponsored dawn-to-dusk shutdown on Friday brought normal life to a standstill in Odisha as people rallied behind the opposition party’s demand for action over alleged irregularities in rituals at the iconic Jagannath Temple in Puri. The Congress called the strike demanding the resignation of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, institution of a judicial probe and action against servitors and officials responsible for the alleged irregularities in the rituals performed during Nabakalebara, a periodical renewal of the wooden statues in the temple. The temple, visited by hundreds of thousands of Hindu faithful every year, houses the murthis of Lord Jagannath (Krishna), Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra (their sister) in the temple.
The Nabakalebara rituals are among the most important festivals at the Jagannath Temple and performed once in 12 years or 19 years whenever there are two ashadhas (double rainy seasons) preceding the Ratha Yatra. The rituals require searching for new sacred neem wood for carving out new statues and transferring their souls to the new images from the old in a ritual called Brahma Parivartan (soul transfer). However, there are allegations that this year’s rituals – completed on June 16 – were marked by gross irregularities with several servitors not officially assigned for the job barging into the forbidden area to witness the rare event. Many allegedly even clicked photos on mobile phones.