Govt appoints OSD for 'Nabakalebara' festival

With Lord Jagannath's 'Nabakalebara' festival hitting hurdles due to controversies, Odisha government today entrusted additional charge with the IG, (Operations), Soumendra Kumar Priyadarshi, as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) for the fete.
Priyadarshi would oversee all security arrangements during 'Nabakalebara Rath Yatra' in Puri on July 18, a government official said.
The senior IPS officer, who had been in-charge of Lord Jagannath's Rath Jatra twice in the past, would be stationed at Puri till the end of the festival.
Besides monitoring security arrangements for the event, expected to be witnessed by about 50 lakh devotees, Priyadarshi would also coordinate other activities for smooth conduct of the carnival.

The state government had given him the additional charge as OSD for 'Nabakalebara' on the basis of his experience during his tenure, the official said.
Meanwhile, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in a press statement dismissed the authenticity of the pictures of the secret rituals of the Lord being circulated in the social media.
"The photos showing the pataali (burial) of the old idols in the Koili Baikuntha (divine graveyard) and carving of new idols inside the temple, widedly circulated in the social media, are irrelevant and have no veracity and authenticity," said SJTA Chief Administrator Suresh Chandra Mohapatra.

He urged people not to be misguided by such pictures.