LED screens to telecast Nabakalebara festival rituals

The Odisha government will install giant LED screens at more than 20 locations in Puri for live telecast of this year’s Nabakalebara festival. The move is aimed at dispersing crowds from the vicinity of Jagannath Temple and Grand Road.

“Some corporate houses have evinced interest in installing a few screens while the tourism department will set up three television screens from its own funds,” Jagannath Temple’s chief administrator Suresh Mohapatra told TOI.

Talabania, the beach, the railway station and bus stand are some of the sites selected by the district administration for installation of the television screens.

The Puri district administration will soon take a final decision on whether the live telecast will be made on Rath Yatra (July 18, 2015) or a few days before the car festival. “Since cameras are not allowed into the temple, the rituals of the deities cannot be aired live. We are planning to telecast Debasnan Purnima and Rath Yatra, which can be shot on camera. Vital rituals of the deities would be telecast,” said a district officer.

There is also a proposal to telecast some documentaries, songs and music on Lord Jagannath on the TV screens. The LED screens will relay information about delay in temple rituals so that pilgrims do not rush to the temple early or wait for hours outside the shrine.

A control room would be set up on the premises of Jagannath Ballav Mutt to manage and monitor the TV service. Apprehending damage to the TV screens in view of rain in July, the administration will erect shades over the screens.

The Puri district administration had in the past introduced sound and music systems on Grand Road on which devotional songs on Lord Jagannath were played in the morning and evening. However, the system subsequently failed due to poor maintenance and lack of patronization.