Foreign national enters Puri Jagannath Temple [Video inside]

Puri: In a major security lapse at the Jagannath Temple ahead of the Government’s much-hyped heritage corridor project inauguration in Puri, a foreign national woman allegedly entered Srimandir defying the temple rules.

The identity of the devotee is yet to be ascertained. However, no complaint in this regard has been registered with the police.

According to reports, the foreign woman entered the temple in appropriate attire through Singhadwar in the presence of heavy security and returned with prasad after having darshan today.

“There was a huge crowd at the temple in the morning. Amid tight security around and inside the temple, the foreign national managed to get into the temple had darshan, and returned with prasad. Surprisingly, the security personnel in front of the Singhadwar did not restrict her. Our servitors identified her as a foreign national,” said senior servitor Binayak Das Mohapatra, blaming the security personnel for the dereliction of their duty.

As per the temple norms, non-Hindus and foreigners are not allowed inside the Jagannath Temple in Puri. Only Hindus can enter the temple to offer the prayer to deities in the sanctum sanctorum. This has been the practice for centuries.

Puri is gearing up for inauguration of much-awaited Shree Jagannath Heritage Corridor project scheduled on January 17. The negligence by the police was reported ahead of the event.