Servitors of Baladevjew temple allege use of adulterated ghee to prepare prasad

Kendrapara: The servitors of the famous Sri Baladevjew temple in Odisha's Kendrapara district on Friday alleged the use of adulterated ghee to prepare prasad and bhog in the 300-year-old temple.

Sarat Patri, one of the priests of the temple, stumbled across adulterated ghee tins in the temple kitchen and raised this issue before the temple managing committee.

The temple authorities recently procured 6 tins of government-owned OMFED ghee to prepare bhog of the temple during the Navaratri period. But the cooks found an unpleasant odour and a sour taste of the ghee. Other priests and cooks of the temple also raised doubts about the purity of ghee.

Balabhadra Patri, the Executive Officer of the Baladevjew temple managing committee said "OMFED supplied sub-standard ghee to the temple for which bad smell was emitting from the ghee. We returned all the five ghee tins to the OMFED branch office at Kendrapara on Friday."

Contacted, Lingaraj Parida the marketing in-charge of OMFED, Kendrapara branch said "Ghee supplied by us to the temple developed a bad odour as it was exposed to moisture and heat for too long. We have instructed the temple authorities to store the ghee in cool environs in future. The allegation of impure ghee supplied by us is not true".