Jagannath Temple Priests go under "Ghajini" Scissors

BY: DEBABRATA MOHAPATRA

Jan 08, JAGANNATHA PURI, ORISSA — Jagannath Temple priests explore the mundane.

It's not the college-going fashion dudes alone who are attracted by Amir Khan's 'near-bald crew cut with conspicuous scars' hairstyle, aka known as Ghajini (name of a Hindi movie) haircut. The Ghajini haircut has now become a rage among the priests at the world famous Jagannath Temple at Puri.

Amir Khan's attention-grabbing haircut has prompted nearly thirty young priests at the 12th century shrine to go for the latest fashion trend. Garbed in traditional attires (dhoti), those priests, who have little exposure to the glamour world can now be differentiated easily among the other priests because of their Ghajini haircut.

"I am not a big fan of Amir Khan. But I liked his hairstyle in Ghajini. So I went for it," quipped Santosh Kumar Dash, a priest. Everyday Santosh serves the presiding Deities of Jagannath Temple by beating drums when bhog is offered to the Lord. "Not less than thirty priests have gone for the same haircut," Dash said.

"When I made the haircut two days ago, everybody in the temple looked at me. I felt a bit awkward then, but now I feel comfortable," Dash added.

Siba Shankar Panda, another priest said the devotees were also stunned to see the Ghajini craze inside the temple. "Some devotees, whom we escorted in the shrine, could not believe it. They did not expect a priest can do it. But I said I did it just for fun," Panda said. Asked whether the haircut would create negative impression among devotees, Panda said no. "The haircut in fact is attracting more pilgrims towards me. So I don't find my business (of taking devotees for darshan) in loss," he said.

Honey Guru, another priest, has become a regular visitor at the gym after going under the scissors a few days ago. "As Amir Khan was doing exercise in the movie, I have also enrolled myself in a gym," Guru said. "If others can adopt new fashion trends, why cannot the priests like me do the same," Guru asked.