#SaveJagannathTemple: 40 chullahs in the holy kitchen of Puri Jagannath Temple vandalized
The holy Puri Jagannath Temple kitchen, which is one of the largest of its kind in the country, has a total of 240 earthen stoves.
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Bhubaneswar, April 4: In a very shocking development, more than 40 earthen hearths in the kitchen of Shree Jagannath Temple of Puri in Odisha were vandalized by unknown miscreants. In that pious and largest kitchen of the world, "Mahaprasad" is cooked for almost a lakh devotees every day.
The kitchen, ‘Rosha Sala’ is considered an important structure of the temple and is prohibited for outsiders. However, someone had caused partial damage to these earthen hearths on Saturday night. The matter came to light when the doors of the temple kitchen were opened on Sunday morning for cooking.
It has a total of 240 earthen stoves of which 43 were found broken. They are used to prepare ‘mahaprasad’, which is offered to the deities of the temple and devotees. Around 100 servitors of the temple are engaged in cooking. The food is first offered to Lor Jagannath and then to Goddess Bimala. It is then called the ‘mahaprasada’ and served to the devotees.
However, the exact reason and the people are yet to be found, and a joint probe by the police and temple administration has been initiated. Puri Collector Samarth Varma said: “A joint inquiry has been initiated by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Administrator (Niti) and additional SP (temple security). No rituals were affected today.”
Apart from this, there have been several question marks being raised regarding the sacred temple. Several devotees have come forward to oppose the heritage corridor including the Archaeological Survey of India. It has warned the Odisha government of a possible threat to the structural safety of the Jagannath Temple in Puri owing to the ongoing heritage corridor work.
It is alleged that for the construction of toilets, the Odisha government is destroying the Hindu temples near the Puri Jagannath Temple.
Vice President & Spokesperson ISKCON Kolkata, in a tweet, said, "Heritage corridor a threat to Puri temple safety: ASI. Never thought that we will have to tweet someday with hashtag #SaveJagannathTemple. What is the use of the development around the temple, if the development becomes threat to the temple itself.
It seems like the outrage has been the focus after the holy kitchen was vandalized. Citizens are questioning that first the Mughals destroyed our Hindu temples, now the government is doing the same.