Bhubaneswar, December 31: The State Government and the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), Puri found themselves under criticism after an error was detected in the calendar prepared by the SJTA for the English New Year.

The error was linked to the sitting arrangement of the Holy sibling deities - Lord Jagannath, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra - in the New Year calendar. It was found that the image of Lord Balabhadra had been placed in the position of of Lord Jagannath, while the image of Lord Jagannath appeared in the position of His elder brother Lord Balabhadra triggering concern among temple servitors, members of the intellectual community and opposition Biju Janata Dal.

It was also alleged Rath Yatra photograph included in the calendar shows the chariot of Debi Subhadra being pulled first, followed by the chariot of Lord Jagannath and finally that of Lord Balabhadra.

It was further alleged that the first page of the table calendar shows Lord Balabhadra placed in the position of Lord Jagannath, while Lord Sudarshan is completely omitted from the image.

Temple servitors protested the error and demanded immediate rectification of the mistake.

BJD media coordinator Lenin Mohanty said that nobody has the authority to commit such mistake involving Lord Jagannath and Jagannath culture.

“Shreemandir comes under the jurisdiction of Law Department. SJTA Chief Administrator is yet to apologize. Nobody has the authority to commit such a mistake. The State Government, SJTA Chief Administrator have become arrogant. Instead of making an apology, the Chief Administrator is issuing clarification,” rued Mohanty.

Amid the criticism, SJTA Chief Arabinda Padhee said, “The image used is based on a 300–400-year-old palm-leaf painting preserved in the State Museum. The image provided by the artist was only placed in the calendar. This image reflects the artist’s creativity.”

Meanwhile, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said that he has already spoken to the SJTA Administrator on the issue and it is being examined.

“I have already spoken to the Chief Administrator. The issue is being examined. If any error will be detected necessary rectification will be done accordingly,” said the Minister.