Birakishore Dev

Birakishore Dev was enthroned as the king of Puri in the year 1956. Birakishore had more worldly experience than his father. He was a graduate of University of Calcutta, had played football, flown aeroplanes and driven his own car. He spent more time than his predecessors outside the palace mixing with the public.

Birakishore employed fewer servants in the palace than his father. Birakishore Dev was very regular about the functioning of his daily rituals of the temple. Meticulously he attended the morning rituals every day. After performing of the religious rituals the king used to come to the throne wearing a silk cloth and his body used to be wrapped in another piece of silk cloth.

Birakishore Dev had, revived the custom of bestowing titles of nobility for meritorious work. Birakishore Dev continued to perform ritual services as chief functionary of the temple, such as the sacred sweeping of the cars during the car festival and several other ritual duties in the temple. The king was entitled to get his daily share of food from the temple as well as special allowances on festive occasions. In addition to these types of consecrated food, the king also got several other ritual gifts from the temple. For example, on his birthday the king wore a piece of cloth which was first offered to Lord Jagannath. It can be said that of all the ritual functions the king did in the temple the most important was the one of bequeathing persons with new head clothes at the time of their investiture as functionaries.

The king Birakishore Dev was the Superintendent of the temple from his enthronement in 1956 to 1960. But in 1960 his position was changed to that of Chairman of a Temple Committee with eleven members and an administrator.

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