Berhampur: Twenty-four people in Ganjam district have donated timber to the Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) for construction of chariots to be used in Rath Yatra at Puri to be held on July 16. Construction of chariots for Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra will start from Akshya Tritiya on Monday.“Besides the timber of other species collected from the forests in Ganjam district, we have also despatched 32 pieces of phasi wood of 24 donated by the devotees to SJTA, Puri for use in chariot construction,” said a forest officer. While eight tenants have donated from Ghumusar North division, 16 people from Ghumusar South division, sources said.The phasi timber with a minimum of 6 ft girth, is generally used for construction of the wheels of the chariots.Himansu Sekhar Mohanty, divisional forest officer (DFO) Ghumusar North, said the tenants have applied to the forest department wishing to donate specific trees which grow on their land for construction of chariots. “We have forwarded the list of tenants to the SJTA. A team of SJTA visited the spot to inspect and select the trees. After Basant Panchami, another team comes to cut and process the trees. Eight people from our division have applied this year wishing to donate the phasi trees of around 60 to 70 years old to SJTA. All of these trees have been selected. After processing the timber, 16 pieces were despatched to Puri on Thursday,” said Mohanty. Earlier, 16 other logs of phasi donated by 16 people had been despatched to Puri from Buguda under Ghumusar South division.“We feel very happy as the timber which grows on our land will be used for construction of the wheels for the Lord’s chariot,” said Simanchal Bisoi, one of the tenants of the trees in Kesarapalli village. “We think our forefathers had planted the phasi trees long ago for use in the Lord’s chariots,” added Kalu Charan Nayak, another tenant of Malati village.Mohanty said besides phasi, they have also despatched another 40 pieces of dharua and asana timbers in a phased manner. These species of timber is, however, collected from different forest areas, he added.Ganjam district has been supplying different species of the logs for five years for construction of the chariots of Lord Jagananth, Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra.
