Ganjam forest officials dispatch first lot of timber to SJTA
Shree Jagannath Temple Administration
(SJTA) on Tuesday. The wood will be used for construction of the chariots for Rath Yatra in Puri, which will be held on June 27.
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The construction started on Akshya Trutiya, April 30.
"We proposed to supply 89 pieces of logs of two species for the construction of the chariots. In the first lot, we supplied 23 pieces of 40-ft long timbers — ashana and dharua — on Tuesday after performing some rituals," said Himansu Sekhar Mohanty, divisional forest officer of Ghumusar north.
The first lot of asana and dhaura was collected from the Ghoghada forest under Tarsingi range.
The next lot will be collected from the Baibili reserve forest under Muzagarh range soon. Asana and dharua are generally used to make the axles of the chariots.
Last year, the division also supplied
asana and dharua logs
to SJTA for the construction of the chariots. Last year, the Ganjam administration had collected phasi (a type of timber), which grows on private land. However, this year, it will not supply phasi as SJTA has collected this type from other districts.
Ganjam has been supplying different species of logs for the last four years for the construction of the chariots. Every year, the chariots of the deities are made from new wood. Generally, the Nayagarh forest division supplies the logs for the chariots but sources said since that species of trees has been dwindling in Nayagarh, SJTA has asked other forest divisions for the wood. On Monday, forest officials in Sambalpur district also supplied several ashana and dharua to SJTA for use in
chariot construction
, sources said.
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