Nabakalebara fiasco: Daitapatis saw and touched Brahma

Rajkumar MohantyPuri, June 26: There is more trouble on the cards ahead for the Biju Janata Dal government headed by Naveen Patnaik and the temple administration following new revelations by the suspended Daitapati Kasinath Dasmahapatra that he along with other Daitapatis had seen and touched the holy Brahma of the deities on June 16 during the observance of Brahma Parivartan ritual.In an interview to a news channel today, Kasinath said there was nothing wrong as they have the right to do so and it is no offence.He said Premananda Dasmahapatra, secretary of the Daitapati Nijog, had also touched and seen the Brahmas along with other four Daitapatis.The temple chief administrator Suresh Chandra Mahapatra had suspended Kasinath Dasmahapatra and his son Jayakrushna Dasmahapatra for creating disturbance during the ritual.This new revelation by the Kasinath contradicted earlier statement of three Daitapatis – Jagannath Swain Mahapatra, Haladhar Dasmahapatra and Ramchandra Dasmahapatra, the Badagrahis of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra respectively who in a hurriedly arranged press conference on Thursday said that none other than the Badagrahi Daitapatis (Daitapatis entrusted to perform the transfer of Brahma from the old idols to the new ones) have neither touched nor seen the Brahmas during the Brahma transfer process.They too assured the devotees that Brahmas of the deities were safe and all the prescribed rituals were observed meticulously and the ritual was accomplished systematically.These new facts of the mismanagement in Brahma Parivartan issue leads to a serious turn as conflicting statements by the Daitapatis and Badagrahis have created more confusion and it has become difficult for the authorities whom to believe or dismiss. The temple chief administrator, who is conducting a fact finding probe to ascertain the involvement of Daitapatis in the fiasco, has been pushed to a difficult situation.The administrator is also being blamed for improper handling of the entire ritual.On the other hand, video footages showing close involvement of ruling party Ministers and other functionaries with Daitapatis from Banajag to Brahma Parivartan have pushed the government into a corner.Use of mobile phones and selection process of Neem trees for Darus also seems cloudy and many reports of Daru fixing have been doing the rounds.Moreover, the allegations of Biswakarmas (traditional temple carpenters engaged in carving the images of deities on the Darus) that all the four Neem trees chosen for Darus were not suitable and a number of Daitapatis have disturbed them while they were shaping the images of deities causing delay in work.The everyday revelations of new facts regarding the controversy over Brahma Parivartan ritual and involvement of some powerful BJD ministers and leaders have made situation difficult for the government to escape from public blame.In the meanwhile, overwhelming response of the devotees and Jagannath lovers to the bandh call over the Brahma Parivartan fiasco by the state congress has put the government functionaries in a tight spot.Further, more skeletons are likely to tumble out of the Daitas cupboard in coming days disclosing involvement of more influential BJD leaders who flouted religious norms in the entire process from Banajag Yatra to Brahma Parivartan episode while the devotees were getting more shocks over such revelations.