Giant screens to show maiden live telecast of neem tree puja

BHUBANESWAR: The Khurda district administration is planning to install giant LED screens for live telecast of Nabakalebara rituals at Gadakantunia village where a neem tree was located for Sudarshan’s idol.
“The LED screens will help disperse crowd from around the tree. Devotees can watch live telecast of the rituals from a distance,” said Jayadev MLA Sasibhusan Behera.The tree will be cut on Saturday.
Some senior servitors of Jagannath Temple raised the demand before DGP Sanjeev Marik and minister Sanjay Dasburma on Tuesday.
“The DGP assured installation of LED screens for better crowd management. It will also help propagate Jagannath culture,” said Daitapati Nijog president Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra.
While priests performed a puja near the tree on Wednesday, the yajna will start from Thursday.
“It will continue till Friday night. We will fast during the yajna,” said Dasmohapatra.
Police have put up barricades so that devotees can go in a queue to see the tree. On Tuesday, police were on their toes following convergence of more than one lakh devotees.
“In view of the rush, we erected barricades. We have also earmarked space for a temporary parking lot on the banks of Kuakhai,” said commissioner of police R P Sharma.
The Gadakantunia Village Committee has requested people of the locality not to eat non-vegetarian food till the tree is cut and taken to Puri. A vehicle with public address system was seen moving in different villages and spreading the message.
In a related development, unidentified miscreants allegedly stole cellphone and cash from a servitor, Bhabani Dasmohapatra, from Capital Hospital on Wednesday. The servitor was hospitalized on Tuesday after he complained of stomach pain.