Puri: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has planned to make an idol of Lord Narayan, a subsidiary deity at Srimandir here.
“We would send a proposal to build the idol of Lord Narayan to the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee. The work will start once the proposal gets the shrine managing panel’s nod,” said SJTA chief administrator PK Mohapatra.
The SJTA had also planned to consecrate a new golden idol of Goddess Sridevi (Laxmi), another subsidiary deity at the 12th century shrine in 2015. However, the initiative was suspended later.
It is learnt that the temple administration had sculpted the golden idol for Goddess Laxmi in 1970s.
Notably, the existing golden idol Goddess Laxmi has witnessed extensive decay in recent years. The Mahajan servitors have been demanding replacement of the idol for the last few years.
Although the SJTA had initiated process to consecrate the idol during the Nabakalebara festival, the move was put on hold.
“We have a new idol of Goddess Laxmi and are contemplating to build one for Lord Narayan at the earliest. The two idols would be consecrated simultaneously,” Mohapatra said.
Meanwhile, the SJTA has decided to construct a room for Mahajan servitors near Narendra pond. The servitors usually face problems to take rest during the annual Chandan Yatra of Srimandir deities.
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137 SJTA staff regularised
The SJTA has regularised the jobs of 137 ad hoc employees. The employees were issued appointment letters for regularised jobs recently. According to sources, the employees were serving on ad hoc basis for last 10 years.