Nabakalebara coin controversy: Dharmendra writes to Odisha CM

BHUBANESWAR: Minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday blamed the state government for the delay in issuance of a commemorative coin of Lord Jagannath to mark the Nabakalebara festival celebrated last year.
This brings a new twist to the controversy surrounding release of the commemorative coins of Rs 10 and Rs 1000 denomination agreed to by the Centre.It was initially slated for release during the festival, celebrated once every 12 to 19 years, in July 2015.
In a letter addressed to Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Pradhan wrote that the Ministry of Culture has been requesting the Jagannath temple management to furnish a few designs of the Lord. However, the management committee has sought time. The culture ministry had sent letters to the temple management pursuing the matter on February 11, February 24 and April 7.
“In the interest of Odia sentiments on Lord Jagannath, I shall be grateful if you could kindly look into the matter and issue necessary advice the temple management committee to furnish a few designs/photos of Lord Jagannath expeditiously. This will enable them (culture ministry) to to take further action on the matter to release the commemorative coin,” Pradhan wrote to Naveen.
An expert committee had earlier submitted a design, which was rejected by the Union finance ministry on the grounds that it had feet of the trinity (Lord Jagannath and his siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra) which is contrary to the limbless idols being worshiped in Puri. The state government had earlier distanced itself from the move citing that the expert panel was selected by the Centre.