Organic Rice to Be Offered As Kotha Bhoga to Lord Jagannath from 2026 Ratha Yatra

 Bhubaneswar: The sacred Kotha Bhoga, one of the most revered offerings made to Lord Jagannath at the Srimandir in Puri, will soon carry the fragrance of Odisha’s organic farmlands. Beginning with the 2026 Ratha Yatra, the offering will be prepared using organically grown rice, announced state agriculture department principal secretary and Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator, Arbinda Padhee, on Friday.

The organic rice will be sourced from the Balabhadra Jaivik Chasa Mission, a state initiative promoting chemical-free cultivation across several districts. Farmers from Niali in Cuttack and Jeypore in Koraput are already cultivating special organic paddy varieties exclusively for the preparation of Kotha Bhoga and Mahaprasad at the 12th-century shrine.

The initiative, being implemented under the Shree Anna Abhiyan and Balabhadra Jaivik Chasa Mission, provides technical and financial support to farmers engaged in organic rice cultivation. Selected farmers have already completed the Kharif harvest, and the collected produce will be sent to Srimandir for temple use, officials confirmed.

Kotha Bhoga, a royal morning offering to the Holy Trinity — Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Devi Subhadra — holds immense spiritual significance. The introduction of organic rice into this ritual is expected to enhance both the purity of the offering and the sanctity of temple traditions.

“The use of organic rice for Kotha Bhoga and Mahaprasad reflects our collective effort to blend devotion with sustainability,” said Padhee after visiting farmlands and interacting with farmers involved in the project.

Officials indicated that the practice would be fully operational by next year’s Ratha Yatra. The initiative is also expected to create a sustainable income stream for farmers, linking Odisha’s organic agriculture movement with one of its most revered religious institutions.