Puri Mahants write to CJI against demolition of mutts

BHUBANESWAR: A group of Mahants (head seers) of different mutts in Puri sent a letter to the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and urged him to prevent the Odisha government from demolishing centuries-old mutts around the Jagannath temple.
Their move came close on heels of the apex court’s rejection of two petitions filed by separate organisations, who had sought a stay on the ongoing eviction around 75-metre radius of the Jagannath temple. “We know about the dismissal of the two petitions. Still, we have high hopes on the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court should hear our appeal. The state government is busy demolishing mutts without consent of Mahants,” said Kalyan Das Maharaj, a Mahant.
In the letter, the Mahants drew the attention of the CJI to the rich heritage, culture and religious values of the mutts in Puri. “Many mutts were built by great saints and seers like Ramanujacharya, Nimbark Acharya, Madhwa Acharya, Ramanda Acharya, Bishnu Swami, Vallabhacharya, Chaitanya and Guru Nanak in Puri. The mutts are linked to Jagannath culture. The Odisha government has the duty to protect such heritage and religious institutions and promote them as part of the temple’s ecosystem. But the government is destroying the iconic structures without caring their heritage and spiritual values,” the letter said.
The eviction drive, which started on August 19, so far razed a number of shops and two historic mutts—Languli and Emar. On Tuesday, the district administration could not demolish Bada Akhada mutt due to stiff opposition by saints and seers. A number of organisations, including displaced persons have started protesting the government’s demolition move notwithstanding chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s appeal to the affected persons to ‘sacrifice’ their properties for the sake of Jagannath temple’s security and mega rehabilitation package for them.
“We do not understand the government’s resettlement plan for mutts. The government claims that it would rebuild mutts elsewhere. But how can the government make such false claims? How can someone rebuild a centuries-old structure after its demolition? How will the government retain a demolished structure’s heritage value,” asked BJP MLA from Puri Jayant Sarangi, who along with a delegation of different stakeholders, including displaced persons, saints and seers met Puri collector Balwant Singh on Wednesday and sought immediate cessation of the eviction drive.
The delegation, under the banner of Puri Surakshya Mancha, also demanded immediate rehabilitation of the displaced persons. “We urged the collector to first rehabilitate the displaced before removing them from their houses, shops and mutts. We also urged the collector to stop destroying our rich heritage and culture. But he did not pay heed to our requests,” Mancha’s convener and Jagannath temple’s servitor Damodar Pradhani said.