The Odisha government shunted out the chief administrator of the Puri Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), Vir Vikram Yadav, following the incident of the fall of Lord Balabhadra’s idol from the makeshift ladder (Charamala) of the chariot in Puri.

The government appointed another senior IAS officer Arabinda Padhee as the new chief administrator of the SJTA. The transfer occurred on Thursday night. Padhee took over the reins of the temple administration on Friday.

The BJP government took action after former chief minister and leader of the Opposition, Naveen Patnaik, urged the Mohan Charan Majhi government to initiate exemplary action on the idol fall issue and ensure that such accidents do not take place in future.

Padhee has taken over the reins of the temple administration with only five days left for this year’s Rath Yatra to be completed. The deities will return to the main shrine on July 15 in what is known as Bahuda Yatra.

However, the deities will remain on their mounts for another four days, during which rituals like Suna Vesha, when the deities will be adorned with gold ornaments. It will be held on July 17. More than 10 lakh devotees are expected to throng Puri during this
period.

To ensure that there is no repeat of the incident which saw the idol of Lord Balabhadra falling Padhee, after taking charge, said that servitors will not be allowed to carry mobile phones onto the chariots of the deities.

“The servitors will be banned from using mobile phones on the chariots. They will be requested not to take selfies with the deities. We will hold talks with the Niyogas (servitors associations),” said Padhee.

Following the fall of the idol of Balabhadra, the devotees alleged that this happened as the servitors were busy clicking pictures and taking videos on their mobile phones. They failed to pay attention to the job they had been assigned. The carelessness had led to the fall of the idol on the makeshift ladder while being brought down from the chariot.

The temple administration has also decided to streamline the entry of servitors on chariots. “Only designated servitors will be allowed to go to the chariots. We will take steps to prevent such incidents during the upcoming Bahuda Yatra, Niladri Vije and other rituals,” said Padhee.