Bhubaneswar: The authorities of Jagannath temple at Odisha’s Puri town today served show-cause notice on three servitors in connection with delay in rituals at the shrine on February 28.

Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief Arabinda Padhree served the show-cause notice on servitors Ramkrushna Khuntia, Madhab Khuntia and Madhusudan Khuntia for indiscipline.

The three servitors have been accused of obstructing others from performing the rituals of the presiding deities on February 28 and misbehaving with the temple officials.

The SJTA chief has asked the trio to submit their replies within seven days.

SJTA warns stern action against the guilty

“Most of the servitors are performing their duties with discipline and dedication. Only a few are causing trouble. We will not tolerate any indiscipline on the temple premises. Stern action will be taken in this regard,” said the SJTA chief.

Rituals of Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra were delayed for several hours on February 28 due to a dispute over special privilege for the VIPs at the shrine.    

The delay in the rituals caused inconvenience to the devotees as they were forced to wait for over four hours to get Mahaprasad.

The temple authorities reportedly allowed the VIPs to have a darshan of the presiding deities through ‘Jay-Vijay’ Dwar. This special arrangement for a select few invited protests from several quarters, reports said.