Puja samitis vow to use pure ghee during Dussehra

BHUBANESWAR : Amid the Tirupati laddu controversy, various puja committees in the state capital have vowed to ensure that only pure materials are used to perform rituals and prepare prasad during the ensuing Durga Puja in the city.

Secretary of Saheed Nagar Durga Puja Samiti Sachinandan Nayak said apart from making efforts to celebrate the festival in a grand manner, their priority this year is to ensure that all items used for puja purpose and preparing prasad is free from any kind of adulteration.

“We are aware of the controversy surrounding the adulteration of ghee and equally concerned about the quality of puja products available in the market. However, we have never compromised in the quality of ghee used in ‘homa’ and ‘yagna’ at our pandal during the puja. Like previous years, we will use OMFED ghee for the purpose,” he said.

Similarly, Pabitra Mohan Behera of Nayapalli Durga Puja Samiti said they don’t have any mechanism to check the quality of ghee, but the committee depends on around 200 members of the Gouda community to arrange pure ghee for puja and making prasad.

“Around five quintal ghee is used in our puja every year. The ghee is primarily collected from villages of Nayagarh, Dasapalla, Pipili, Mangalapur and other places outside the city,” Behera said.

Organisers at Jharpada Durga Puja Samiti said they too depend on collection of homemade or OMFED ghee for the purpose. General secretary Dharanidhar Jena said like other puja samitis, they also require a huge quantity of ghee for the yagna and preparation of prasad.