Commotion broke out at the 12th century Jagannath temple in Puri on Sunday morning following the entry of some missionary students from Jharkhand. Non-Hindus are barred from entering the temple.
The students pleaded ignorance to the temple rules. After noticing, the temple servitors questioned them about their religion.
The matter was informed to the temple security guards. Since the bhog offering was over, there was no disruption in the nitees of the temple. However, the priests held lax security arrangements responsible for the incident and expressed dissatisfaction at the verification process being followed by the men in uniform deployed at the temple.
Sources said the students are from Xavier School in Singhbhum district of Jharkhand and they had come to Puri for a picnic.
Two months back, a similar incident had taken place when a foreign national, who claimed himself to be an ISCKON devotee, entered the temple.