KOLKATA: Forced to choose between a 165-year-old tradition and safety, Dakhineswar temple authorities have selected the latter.
The coronavirus scare has brought a change in the tradition and customs of the temple. The Ma Bhabatarini mandir at Dakshineswar shut down in March due to a nationwide lockdown has reopened with a striking change — PPE-clad priests performing pujas in the sanctum sanctorum.
Author Sanjib Chattopadhyay felt Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Dakshineswar’s most celebrated priest, may have reacted differently to it. “I can’t accept that the priests have to remain in constant fear while performing the pujas in the sanctum sanctorum. How will the devotees react? Ramakrishna Paramahansa, the 19th century Bengal renaissance personality was also a priest who made the Kali temple famous, but with a difference. When he was appointed as a priest he would offer the puja in the simplest form. Clad in a loincloth he would spend hours at the temple but was not interested in performing pujas based on rituals only. People from all walks of life could go to him and talk at length to quench their thirst for spirituality. Now priests are looking like men from the outer world. Visitors to the temple will get frightened even to approach them for pujas,” Chattopadhyay said.
However, Chattopadhyay said he was not averse to devotees taking basic safety measures before entering the temple.
Kushal Chowdhury, the trustee and the secretary of the temple committee made it clear that the committee decided to make it mandatory for the priests to wear PPE just to safeguard the health of the visitors as well as the priests.
“We have arranged for three-layer safety measures for the visitors and our employees. The last layer of such safety measures happens to be the sanctum sanctorum. Here we have been compelled to ask the priests to wear PPE as they are coming in close contact with the devotees every day,” Chowdhury said.
In 1855, Ramkumar Chattopadhyay, the elder brother of Gadadhar Chattopadhyay (Ramakrishna Paramhansa) was appointed as the priest of the newly built Dakshineswar Kali temple by Rani Rashmoni.
Kaushik Gupta, a north Kolkata resident and a businessman who has been a regular to the temple won’t mind going through sanitization channels or cover his face with a mask and stand in the queue following social-distancing norms. But Gupta said he was feeling uncomfortable at the sight of PPE-clad priests. “The scene is really disturbing my mind. The sanctum sanctorum is a place where no outsider is allowed. Then why is the priest made to wear PPE?” he asked.
But, Soumili Chatterjee, a south Kolkata resident and a government official who frequently visits the temple felt the temple committee was the best judge to determine the kind of safety measures required for visitors. “If a priest wears PPE, why should I object?” Chatterjee asked.
The coronavirus scare has brought a change in the tradition and customs of the temple. The Ma Bhabatarini mandir at Dakshineswar shut down in March due to a nationwide lockdown has reopened with a striking change — PPE-clad priests performing pujas in the sanctum sanctorum.
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Popular culture has to address the concerns of the age and adapt to its needs. This is what we are seeing in various places of worship. We must keep in mind that any place, where there are mass congregations, is high-risk and must behave accordingly.
Author Sanjib Chattopadhyay felt Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Dakshineswar’s most celebrated priest, may have reacted differently to it. “I can’t accept that the priests have to remain in constant fear while performing the pujas in the sanctum sanctorum. How will the devotees react? Ramakrishna Paramahansa, the 19th century Bengal renaissance personality was also a priest who made the Kali temple famous, but with a difference. When he was appointed as a priest he would offer the puja in the simplest form. Clad in a loincloth he would spend hours at the temple but was not interested in performing pujas based on rituals only. People from all walks of life could go to him and talk at length to quench their thirst for spirituality. Now priests are looking like men from the outer world. Visitors to the temple will get frightened even to approach them for pujas,” Chattopadhyay said.
However, Chattopadhyay said he was not averse to devotees taking basic safety measures before entering the temple.
Kushal Chowdhury, the trustee and the secretary of the temple committee made it clear that the committee decided to make it mandatory for the priests to wear PPE just to safeguard the health of the visitors as well as the priests.
“We have arranged for three-layer safety measures for the visitors and our employees. The last layer of such safety measures happens to be the sanctum sanctorum. Here we have been compelled to ask the priests to wear PPE as they are coming in close contact with the devotees every day,” Chowdhury said.
In 1855, Ramkumar Chattopadhyay, the elder brother of Gadadhar Chattopadhyay (Ramakrishna Paramhansa) was appointed as the priest of the newly built Dakshineswar Kali temple by Rani Rashmoni.
Kaushik Gupta, a north Kolkata resident and a businessman who has been a regular to the temple won’t mind going through sanitization channels or cover his face with a mask and stand in the queue following social-distancing norms. But Gupta said he was feeling uncomfortable at the sight of PPE-clad priests. “The scene is really disturbing my mind. The sanctum sanctorum is a place where no outsider is allowed. Then why is the priest made to wear PPE?” he asked.
But, Soumili Chatterjee, a south Kolkata resident and a government official who frequently visits the temple felt the temple committee was the best judge to determine the kind of safety measures required for visitors. “If a priest wears PPE, why should I object?” Chatterjee asked.
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