“At around 8:20 pm, the sky was overcast with gusty winds in Puri. We noted that suddenly the flames came in contact with the Bana which caught fire,” an eye-witness said, reported by Ommcom News.

Puri: The holy flag (Bana) furled atop Shree Jagannath Temple here caught fire on 19th March evening. The incident took place when one of the Sevayats was ascending the temple to perform the ritual of placing ‘Mahadeepa’ on the occasion of ‘Bada Ekadasi’.

The ‘Mahadeepa’ or grand Lamp is placed on the top of the temple on special occasions. Today, on the occasion of ‘Bada Ekadashi’, one of the servitors was climbing the temple along with the Mahadeepa.

“At around 8:20 pm, the sky was overcast with gusty winds in Puri. We noted that suddenly the flames came in contact with the Bana which caught fire,” an eye-witness said.

However, the primary flag was safe as the flame swamped the minor ‘Banas’ placed below the former. However the fire was controlled by the servitors who acted promptly.

Image source: Sangabadpratidin.com