Servitors meet CM, discuss proposed entry of non-Hindus to Puri Temple

A delegation of servitors of Jagannath Temple in Puri today met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to register its opposition to the proposed entry of non-Hindus into the 12th-century shrine.

The 22-member delegation of ‘Chhatisa Nijog’ Sevayats met the Chief Minister at his residence along with Puri MP Pinaki Mishra and Puri MLA Maheshwar Mohanty. During the meeting, the delegation also discussed the Supreme Court’s proposal on abolition of hereditary services of servitors.

Presently only Hindus are allowed to enter Jagannath Temple and the issue of allowing non-Hindus’ entry to the shrine is being debated following the Supreme Court’s July 5 direction that the Puri Jagannath Temple management should consider allowing all visitors, irrespective of their faith, to offer prayers to the deities.

“The servitor community has been opposing entry of non-Hindus into Jagannath temple and will continue to do so,” Rama Chandra Singhari, who led the delegation, told reporters after the meeting with the Chief Minister.

Stating that the servitors’ views would be placed before the Supreme Court, Singhari said no politics should be done in the name of religion.

He said the servitors, devotees and the government were keen to ensure that the age-old tradition of Shree Jagannath Temple was kept intact.