Pioneer News Service / Bhubaneswar
Orissa governor Rameshwar Thakur on Monday inaugurated a comprehensive training programme for hereditary Yatri Pandas of Puri at Collectors' Conference Hall in Puri.
The programme aims at imparting training to 400 Yatri Pandas in a phased manner in nine batches.
A 28 member team of experts, drawn from various fields, will impart training to these Pandas.
The Governor said that in the past,the Yatri Pandas, have been instrumental in propagating Orissa's culture, art and literature. They took care of their respective Yatris and at times, helped them financially, if the situation demanded. However, times have changed.
If a Yatri or a tourist visiting Puri or the Jagannath Temple suffers any humiliation, it will have a bad effect on the reputation of the entire Oriya society.
Everyone should see to it that such a situation never arises and the safety of the Yatris is ensured.
The meeting was presided over by the Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingh Deb.
Those who spoke on the occasion included Chief Administrator of Shree Mandir Suresh Mohapatra, Deputy Chief Administrator and Collector AK Das and members of the temple administration Rabindra Pratihari and Ipsit Pratihari. The Governor released three books on the occasion Prasikshan Pustika, Odia Sahityare Shree Jagannath and Shree Jagannath Geetika.