Puri, Oct 4: Arpana rice, collected from devotees from across the State before the inauguration of the Shreemandir Parikrama Prakalpa, was sold at Rs 2.86 crore, according to the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA). 

Earlier, part of the collected Arpana rice was used for cooking 'Khechudi', distributed among the devotees. Still, huge quantities of rice were unused. Over time, the rice was decaying and getting unworthy of devotees' consumption. Recently, the SJTA called a tender to sell the rice. 

Sold at Rs 2,780 per quintal,  a total of 10,322 quintals of rice fetched Rs 2.86 core to the Shreemandir exchequer, said Puri District Collector and SJTA Deputy Chief Siddharta Swain.  

Swain said the rice was sold through a tender on the decision of the State government. 

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