BHUBANESWAR: Devotees’ entry to the Shri Jagannath temple at Puri was marked by chaos on Monday as many, frustrated with standing in queues for long hours, broke the police barricades outside the Lions Gate to force their way into the shrine.
Some others allegedly bribed a few servitors to help them enter the shrine through Lions Gate by bypassing the barricades even as police failed to manage the teeming crowd.
While the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) had decided to open the temple doors at 2 am, they were opened past 3.30 am on the day, which was a public holiday. ‘Mangala Alati’, the first ritual of the deities, took place at around 5.42 am.
Sources said devotees had started queuing up outside the shrine from 2 am and by morning, the crowd extended from Marchikota Chhak till Lions Gate.
With the Dwaraphita (opening of temple doors) ritual happening late and the temple further remaining closed for nearly an hour due to the ‘Pahili Bhoga’ ritual of the Trinity, sources pointed out that entry of devotees was subsequently delayed leading to the chaos.
Earlier this month, the temple administration had decided to open the temple doors at 2 am every day till January 14, 2024 (from Dhanu Sankranti to Makar Sankranti) due to the offering of Pahili Bhoga to the deities during this period. During ‘Pahili Bhoga’, the Jay-Vijay door inside the sanctorum is closed for devotees.
Exasperated with the long wait, devotees broke the police barricades several times in the day to enter the shrine with police failing to bring the situation under control. Near Chauni Matha and other areas closeby, servitors were also seen helping devotees reach the Lions Gate by escaping the police barricades.
“We had to wait in the queue for nearly two to three hours to enter the temple. Inside, the darshan of the deities was only for a few seconds. The temple administration needs to better manage the rituals and crowd here,” said a devotee.
While Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) head Ranjan Das was unreachable, member of SJTA Durga Dasmahapatra said the temple gates were opened late on Monday due to ‘Maha Snana’ of the Trinity on Sunday.
‘Delay’ pushes devotees to break Srimandir barricades
After Sakhala Dhupa on Sunday morning, servitors of the temple had noticed blood inside the temple premises following which, ‘Maha Snana’ was performed.
“This disrupted the rituals for a considerable period of time as a result of which, gates could be closed only around 1.40 am yesterday and hence, the delay in opening the gates,” he informed.
Dasmahapatra, however, said many measures including an AC tunnel have been put in place on Grand Road to manage the crowd in a better manner during the New Year.
Although the exact number of devotees coming to the shrine on the day was unavailable, the Lions Gate Police said the CCTVs installed at the gate counted the number of footfalls at 86,000 from 3 am till 8.15 pm.