Hours after halt, daily rituals begin at Puri Srimandir

Puri: Hours after a halt, the daily rituals of Lord Jagannath resumed at Srimandir, informed the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator Pradipta Mohapatra here today.

The Jaya Vijay Dwar (door in sanctum sanctorum) was opened at the Jagannath Temple following discussion with the SJTA and servitors.

The devotees waiting for more than 13 hours outside the shrine will have darshan of the deities soon, Mohapatra said.

The general darshan at Srimandir had been halted today after a group of servitors and police personnel had a face-off over an entry of two devotees last evening.

The gates of the temple had remained closed triggering resentment among devotees.

Initially, the district collector had attempted to resolve the issue by holding a discussion with the servitors, but in vain.

The tension prevailed in front of Singhadwara (main entrance) of the temple when irate devotees barged into the temple after breaking the barricades and scuffled with the cops present on the spot.

Expressing displeasure over the delay of daily rituals at the centuries-old shrine, Puri Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingha Deb termed the incident as unfortunate.

He sought the intervention of the government functionaries at the top level into the matter.

Last night, police officials had allegedly prevented three devotees from West Bengal from entering the temple suspecting them as foreigners. A verbal duel followed by a scuffle had later ensued between a group of servitors and police officials when Bhitarchu servitor Bhawani Shankar Mohapatra asked the cops to allow entry of the devotees. Later, a complaint was filed at Singhadwara police station by servitor Mohapatra, following which the cops also filed a counter FIR.