Puri: In a recent auction, 10,300 quintals of Arpan rice were sold, raising Rs 2.86 crore for the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) fund. The auction was held under the supervision of Puri District Collector and SJTA Deputy Chief Administrator Siddharth Shankar Swain. The entire stock was bought by Suresh Kumar Mohanty, owner of Nimapada Ma Tardhana Rice Mill.
The auctioned rice was part of a larger collection, with 14,017.23 quintals of Arpan rice initially collected and brought to Puri. Out of this, 4,610.44 quintals were stored at the Srigundicha Temple, 2,618.07 quintals at the Akshayapatra Foundation, and 6,788.72 quintals at the Supply Department’s Puri godown.
From the Srigundicha Temple stock, 3,856.84 quintals were distributed to the Suar Mahasura Nijoga for religious purposes. The remaining rice, which had been collected for the preparation of Mahaprasad for devotees at the Puri Jagannath Temple, was later auctioned after being declared unfit for use.
The rice was initially intended for preparing Mahaprasad to be distributed among devotees visiting the temple. However, after a change in government, the preparation and distribution of Mahaprasad from this rice were halted, leading to its auction.