Odisha minister seeks complete withdrawal of NMA from two Bhubaneswar temples

Odishas Law minister PratapJena Friday demanded that the controversial draft notificationof National Monuments Authority (NMA) for the two temples ofBhubaneswar should be completely withdrawn instead of puttingthem on hold.

Jena said this while reacting to Union Minister PratapSarangis statement that the centre has put the NMA bylawsnotification for Ananta Basudev temple and Brahmeswar templein the capital city on hold.

Sarangi said the final decision in this regard will betaken after holding discussion with all the stakeholders.

In a letter to his cabinet colleague from Odisha, PratapSarangi, Union Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel hadinformed him about having asked the officers concerned to keepthe proposal on hold.

Jena, however, said that the NMA bylaws had underminedthe development works in and around the temples.

''It should not be put on hold but completely withdrawn,''the law minister said.

Earlier, the centre had withdrawn the bylaws for ShreeJagannath temple in Puri after a statewide hue and cry overthe NMA communique.

Earlier, Odisha's Chief Secretary S C Mohapatra had alsowritten a letter to the centre requesting him to withdraw thebylaws for two temples of Bhubaneswar in view of conducting asmooth Maha Shivratri festival on March 11.

The chief secretary also said there have been frequentagitations as the draft notification was not withdrawn.

''There is serious apprehension that this will lead towidespread agitation and disturb the daily rituals in thetemples.

''This kind of atmosphere in temples is bound to hurt thereligious sentiments of lakhs of devotees. The largestcongregation of devotees in Ekamra Kshetra will happen onMarch 11 on the occasion of Maha Shivratri festival,''Mohapatra said.

It is important to have a peaceful atmosphere and fullcooperation of servitors for conducting the festival in whichlakhs of devotees participate, the chief secretary said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)