Bahuda Yatra Turns Unpleasant

BY: SUN STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Jagannath Pahandi

[Photo: Sampradaya Sun]

Jul 18, 2013 — JAGANNATHA PURI, ORISSA — Tension ran high in front of Lord Jagannath's Nandighos chariot, as some priests became engaged in a bitter altercation with police and temple officials when the latter tried to evict unwanted devotees from the chariot during the Lord's return car festival on Thursday.

The influential priests had allowed the devotees, clad in priestly attire, to occupy the deck of the chariot hours before Lord Jagannath was brought onto the chariot from Gundicha Temple. The priests mobbed the senior police officers and shrine authorities and threatened to disrupt the Bahuda Yatra rituals, creating chaos for nearly half an hour. Eventually, apprehending trouble, the police and temple administration bowed before the supremacy of the priests and sought their cooperation for smooth conduct of the rituals.

Pahandi Procession

[Photo: Sampradaya Sun]

Trouble erupted soon after revenue divisional commissioner and temple's Chief Administrator, Arvind Padhee asked the chariot-laden devotees to climb down after Lord Jagannath was taken onto the chariot in Pahandi procession from Gundicha Temple. When the affluent devotees, who reportedly shelled out huge money to priests to remain present on the most sought-after Nandighos chariot, did not pay heed to the warning, Padhee asked the police to drive the devotees off the chariot. All hell broke loose, as some priests shouted at the police and booed the temple officials. "Police insulted the devotees. Rath Yatra is the only occasion when devotees get chance to go close to the Deities," said Ramakrushna Dasmohapara, a servitor.

The Journey Home

[Photo: Sampradaya Sun]

"We did not intend to insult any devotee or hurt their religious sentiments. But from security point of view and for better crowd control, we had to keep the chariot less crowded. Common pilgrims standing on the ground struggled a lot to catch glimpse of the Deities because of the presence of large number of devotees on chariot," Padhee said.

A few weeks before Rath Yatra, the same section of priests had threatened the temple administration to boycott the Rath Yatra rituals when the temple body wanted to ban the entry of pilgrims onto chariots.

Bahuda Ratha Stopped

[Photo: Sampradaya Sun]

The unsavoury confrontation between the police and priests upset many common pilgrims. "The administration should not have succumbed to the blackmailing of some priests. It is high time the administration should deal the unscrupulous priests with iron hands. Common devotees should not be prevented from having clear darshan of Deities because of the rich pilgrims, occupying the chariot," said Prahalad Tripathy, a devotee from Dhenkanal.

Bahuda Ratha Stopped

[Photo: Sampradaya Sun]