Bhubaneswar: A delegation of servitors of Shree Jagannath temple on Thursday met the Shankaracharya of Puri Swami Nischalananda Saras-wati to apprise him about the controversy over Supreme Court's suggestion about the entry of non-Hindus into the shrine and abolition of hereditary rights of the servitors.

Scion of the former Puri royal family Dibya Singh Deb was present at the meeting that continued for more than three hours. The meeting comes just one day after the annual rath yatra of Puri was over. "We apprised the Shankarachrya that the sanctity of the temple would be destroyed if non-Hindus are allowed inside it. They can have darshan of the deities when they come out of the shrine during the rath yatra. We request him to present our stand at the right forum," said Rabi Naryan Mohapatra, a senior servitor.

Mohpatra said: "It was decided that a seven-member committee would be formed to apprise the amicus curiae about our stand. We will also seek some time to present our stand. We will also present our report to the state government and request the government to present our cases at appropriate authority."

Chief of Chhattisha Nijog Janardan Pattajoshi Mohapatra said: "The servitors have been enjoying many rights over the centuries for their works. But now question marks have been raised over the existence of the rights. We urged the Shankaracharya to come forward to support our claims." He said: "The Apex court has not delivered any final verdict. Now, the time has come to inform our stand. All should be united for this cause. All these issues need a lot of debates."

He argued that Shree Jagannath temple was different from other temples and it had a unique system. "While other temples have deities, a 'living god' is worshiped here in the shrine. It has to be understood," he said. Deb said: "The servitors have placed their views before the Shankar-acharya. His views would be taken on the sensitive issue. He will guide us on the religious matter. All steps would be taken to protect the Jagannath culture."

Earlier, a delegation of servitors of the temple had met chief minister Naveen Patnaik before the rath yatra to raise their objection to the apex court's suggestion about abolition of the hereditary rights of the servitors.

Temple chief administrator P.K. Mohapatra said: "The issue of abolition of hereditary rights should be re-examined. On the issue of entry of non-Hindus, I can say this is only a suggestion which requires a lot of deliberations and debate. A number of directions of the apex court are implementable. We will place all the issues at the management committee meeting."