Odisha: Puri Jagannath temple administration drops plan to preserve chariots for tourists

BHUBANESWAR: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration in Puri has shelved its plan of preserving the three chariots of last year’s Rath Yatra on the premises of the Jagannath Ballav mutt to attract tourists.
The shrine administration said the mutt does not have a suitable space with sheds to accommodate the giant wooden chariots, at present.
The height of the Taladhwaja chariot of Lord Balabhadra is 45ft and has 14 wheels, Nandighosha of Lord Jagannath is 45.6ft with 16 wheels and Darpadalana of Devi Subhadra is 44.6ft with 12 wheels.
Last year, the shrine administration had formed a technical committee, comprising an engineer and some temple officials, to prepare a master plan to preserve the chariots on the premises of the Jagannath Ballav mutt, about 500 metres from the 12th century shrine on the Grand Road, to woo visitors.
The Jagannath Ballav mutt, which is spread over 42 acres, is being developed by the state government under the Augmentation of Basic Amenities and Development of Heritage and Architecture (ABADHA) scheme.
A multi-layer parking lot, a medication centre and museum and craft centres are being built there as part of the project.
The committee did not find it technically feasible to preserve the chariots in the present circumstances. “Currently, we do not have any well-developed and spacious site to immediately keep the chariots in the Jagannath Ballav mutt. The mutt has a small pedestal that can accommodate only miniature chariots. We may think of preserving the chariots in the future if proper infrastructure is available on the mutt premises,” the temple’s administrator (development) Ajay Kumar Jena said.
The temple administration had dismantled the chariots last year and preserved the wooden parts. According to the plan, the wooden parts were supposed to be reassembled for the reconstruction of the chariots and showcased at the Jagannath Ballav mutt.
Now, since the chariots will not be preserved, the temple body will either sell or them as firewood in the temple’s kitchen.
According to tradition, the chariots are dismantled after the end of Rath Yatra every year and new chariots are constructed ahead of the annual grand festival.
While the dismantled wheels and some other parts are sold, the remaining parts are used as firewood in the temple’s kitchen every year. As a large numbers of trees are felled to construct the chariots each year, there were demands from different quarters to preserve the chariots for future Rath Yatras.
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