Bhubaneswar, Dec. 28 -- A Jagannath Temple managing committee member appealed on Sunday against the recent practice of keepingLord Jagannath and His siblings awake on the eve of the New Year by keeping open the Holy shrine (for performing Dwarafita ritual) early at midnight, calling it inconsistent with Sanatan Hindu traditions.

Mahesh Sahu, a member of the Shree Jagannath Temple managing committee, has written to Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan, and Srimandir Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee, raising objections to the practice.

In his letter, Sahu emphasised that Lord Jagannath is the presiding deity of Sanatan Hindus and that all rituals at the 12th-century Vaishnavite shrine are traditionall...