Bhubaneswar:

The Odisha government on Friday said it has decided to introduce a quality check mechanism for ‘Mahaprasad’ and ghee being used at the Jagannath temple in Puri.

The Odisha government’s decision came after a major row that erupted following Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s claims of low-quality ghee and alleged presence of animal fat in the laddoos made and distributed at the Tirupati Lord Balaji temple.

Odisha’s Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said a food inspector will be appointed at the 12th-century shrine, who will check the quality of materials being used for the preparation of the ‘Mahaprasad’.

All the articles will undergo a quality check before going to the Roshasala temple kitchen and after offering the Mahaprasad to deities, Harichandan said.

“Not only ghee, we will examine the quality of other ingredients being used in the preparation of Mahaprasad,” the law minister told reporters here.

The Puri Jagannath temple is under the state government’s law department.

Stating that there has been no complaint regarding the quality of Mahaprasad and other materials so far, Harichandran said the initiative was taken to avoid any controversy in future and maintain the purity of the Mahaprasad.

The minister also said that 20 ex-army men have been deployed at the ‘Ananda Bazaar’ (food court) to ensure that no stale Mahaparasad is sold to the devotees.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)