The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration has ordered an investigation into the alleged unauthorised sale of Mahaprasad outside Puri’s Jagannath Temple, after cooked food was reportedly sold to devotees near the shrine’s northern gate. Officials said action would follow if the sellers are found to have operated without permission or misled devotees by passing off other food as Mahaprasad.
Puri collector and temple deputy chief administrator Dibyajyoti Parida said the investigation began after people were seen selling cooked rice, dal, dalma, besara, mahura and kanika in bamboo baskets on sal-leaf plates on Sunday. Some devotees purchased and consumed the food, while others objected to the activity.
“It is yet to be established whether the food was genuine ‘Mahaprasad’ or had been cooked outside the temple and sold in its name,” the temple administration said through Parida’s statement. He added that Mahaprasad is supposed to be sold at Anand Bazaar, the designated marketplace inside the Srimandir.
Parida said anyone selling Mahaprasad outside the temple without permission would face action. He also warned that cheating devotees by selling food in the name of Mahaprasad was punishable. The matter is scheduled to be discussed at meetings of the Chhatisha Nijog and the temple managing committee.
Anand Bazaar operates under the supervision of the Suar Mahasuar Nijog, and servitors and devotees questioned the reported sales outside the shrine. According to the temple administration, neither the Suar Mahasuar Nijog nor the temple authorities had made arrangements for Mahaprasad sales outside Anand Bazaar.
The reported activity has raised concerns about whether devotees could be overcharged or deceived, particularly if food cooked outside the temple is represented as Mahaprasad. The issue also places attention on how commercial activity is monitored around one of Odisha’s most heavily visited religious sites, where the movement of devotees extends beyond the temple gates and along Bada Danda.
The temple administration has previously taken steps to protect the religious and traditional identity of Mahaprasad by registering its trademark and wordmark. Those protections are intended to prevent commercial misuse, but the reported sales near the temple have renewed questions about enforcement in the surrounding public areas.
Devotee Santosh Panda urged the administration to intensify surveillance around all temple gates to prevent unauthorised Mahaprasad sales outside Anand Bazaar. The investigation and the forthcoming discussions of the Chhatisha Nijog and temple managing committee will determine whether the food sold near the northern gate was genuine Mahaprasad and whether any rules were violated.
