Puri, October 1, 2018: The queue darshan system in Jagannath Temple in Puri introduced by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Monday on an experimental basis as part of the reform measures suggested by the Supreme Court has turned out to be big failure as devotees defied the SJTA’s initiative and entered the temple as earlier.
As per the earlier announcement, the devotees were asked to come in queue to enter the 12th century shrine through Singhadwar (Lion’s Gate). The SJTA had also erected iron railings for formation of separate lines for devotees to enter the 12th century shrine in queue.
However, devotees led by certain local outfit leaders defied the system and uprooted the barricades and entered the temple premises.
Puri district Collector Jyoti Prakash Das and SP Sarthak Sarangi were present to take stock of the new system when the devotees flouted the initiative.
Puri Collector Das expressed his strong displeasure over the development and said whatever grievances they had must be communicated to the temple administration.
“The queue system is being introduced on an experimental basis and if necessary, further improvements can be brought after observing how it works. However, they should obey the rules and talk to us about their grievances so that we can ensure improvements can be done.” said Das.
He said they will examine the CCTV footage and identify the trouble makers.
As per the plan, the devotees will form a queue at Lion’s Gate and move to the temple through barricades. They will move straight to the main temple and have darshan of Lord Jagannath and His siblings. Later, they will go to other temples inside the shrine premises.
After darshan, the devotees will exit through the Uttaradwara (north gate). There will be separate barricades for men and women.
The decision to implement the queue system on a trial basis was taken at a meeting of the Jagannath Temple Managing Committee headed by Gajapati Maharaj of Puri, Dibyasingha Deb last month after the Supreme Court directive.
The move aims at ensuring smooth and hassle-free darshan of the deities as a large number of devotees throng the temple every day.
