Puri: The reconstituted Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee will hold its first meeting on September 3 in Puri, the temple administration announced on Friday.

The meeting, to be chaired by Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingha Deb of Puri, will formally welcome the newly appointed members and constitute a sub-committee. Key issues expected to come up for discussion include the introduction of a queue system at the Jagannath Temple and inventory of the Ratna Bhandar (treasury).

A day prior, on September 2, the Chhatisha Nijog meeting will be held. On September 3 (Wednesday), the Managing Committee is likely to approve rituals for the upcoming lunar eclipse (Chandra Grahan).

On August 26, the Odisha Government appointed 10 new members to the Committee under the provisions of the Shree Jagannath Temple Act, 1954, nearly 11 months after the previous body’s tenure had expired.

The new members are:

  1. Siddheswar Mohapatra (Mukti Mandap representative)
  2. Krushna Chandra Sarmantray (Sevak representative)
  3. Madhusudan Singhari (Sevak representative)
  4. Jagannath Pujapanda (Sevak representative)
  5. Ganesh Dasmohapatra (Sevak representative)
  6. Ramnarayan Gochhikar (Sevak representative)
  7. Raghubir Das Maharaj (Mathas and other institutions – Balaramkot Matha)
  8. Girish Chandra Murmu (former Comptroller and Auditor General of India)
  9. K. Sabat (Chartered Accountant)
  10. Mahesh Kumar Sahoo (Chartered Accountant, Bantala, Angul)

The Managing Committee of Puri Jagannath Temple plays a crucial role in supervising the administration, rituals, and overall functioning of the 12th-century shrine.