Puri: Ahead of Adapa Mandap Bije rituals of Lord Jagannath and His siblings to escort deities into Gundicha Temple from chariots during 9-day Ratha Jatra, miscreants allegedly vandalised chulhas (earthen oven) at kitchen inside the temple here.

Except Kothaghara chullah, more than 20 chulhas of Roshaghara (kitchen) were found vandalised at the temple in the morning.

Sources said that the miscreants vandalised the chulhas last night.

The chulhas were prepared three days ago for cooking Adapa Abadha for deities during the Lords' stay at Gundicha Temple.

A similar incident was reported from Srimandir a few month ago. The chulhas in large number were vandalised triggering discontent among devotees as well as servitors.

The fresh incident raised question on security arrangement at the temple during Ratha Jatra of Lord Jagannath.

"We do not know who is behind such incident. The servitors who were in charge of the kitchen need to have monitored the condition of the chulhas. Of course, the security lapses at the temple led to such incident. As the Ghosha Jatra started, security personnel should have deployed outside the Roshaghara on premises of the temple. The disciplinary action should be taken against the erring persons," said senior servitor Binayak Das Mahapatra.

Worth mentioning that deities are being worshipped atop their respective chariots since last night. The idols will be taken to Adapa Mandap before evening today.