Puri Jagannath temple admin plans to donate chariot wheels to govt offices

BHUBANESWAR: Poor response from devotees to the idea of buying wheels of the dismantled Rath Yatra chariots may prompt the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in Puri to donate the parts free of cost to government offices.
Such a proposal was mooted on Friday after the SJTA found that around 135 wheels have been gathering dust having remained unsold for years. The SJTA plans to come up with a standard operating procedure (SOP) for disposal of the unsold parts of chariots.
Every year, the chariots are dismantled at the end of Rath Yatra. The dismantled logs used to be sent to the temple’s kitchen for use as firewood. The temple administration started selling wheels and three other parts (Guja, Prabha and Asuari) of the chariots from 2013 onwards to generate revenue for the shrine.
A wheel used to cost Rs 50,000 whereas a Prabha was available for Rs 25,000. Each Guja and Asurai was priced at Rs 20,000. However, the temple administration slashed the prices by half in 2017 following lukewarm response from buyers. Now, a wheel is available for Rs 25,000, Guja for Rs 10,000, Prabha for Rs 12,500 and Asuari for Rs 10,000.
“We have a total of 420 wheels from 2012 Rath Yatra onwards. But only 230 wheels were sold. About 135 have remained unsold, while 55 have got damaged. Since there are very few buyers, we are planning to donate them to different offices run by the state government and the Centre in Odisha. A final decision will be taken soon,” a temple official said.
The temple administration is likely to seek applications from interested government offices willing to receive parts of the chariots. If the temple body receives more applications, they may go for a lottery system to select the recipient.
Every year, the state government supplies 13,000 cubic feet of wood worth over Rs 80 lakh for construction of the three chariots. The height of the Taladhwaja chariot of Lord Balabhadra is 45ft and has 14 wheels, Nandighosha of Lord Jagannath is 45.6ft with 16 wheels and Darpadalana of Devi Subhadra is 44.6ft with 12 wheels.