PURI, July 11, 2013: Sending district administration's warning for a toss, a large number of people climbed onto the chariot of Lord Jagannath in the guise of priests on Wednesday. Donning priestly attires, the "fake" servitors encroached huge space on the most sought-after Nandighos chariot prior to the Jagannath's procession (pahandi) from the sanctum sanctorum to the chariot.

Jagannath temple security guards, Odisha police and temple administration let loose their arms before the supremacy of some servitors, who were busy minting money by inviting affluent devotees onto the chariots.

"We made announcements through loudspeakers. We even tried to bring down fake priests, but the real ones threatened to stop the rituals. We had no other option than to bow before their audacity," a police officer said, expressing helplessness.

"The Lord was so close, yet so far for me. How could the police officials look the other way? We came from far off places to have darshan of the deities. But the officials did precious little to make the chariot less crowded," said Prateek Hota, who came from Kalahandi.

"Our duty was to control law and order. It was primarily the lookout of the Jagannath temple administration and Jagannath Temple Police (JTP) to keep the chariots less crowded," Puri SP Anup Kumar Sahoo said.

Seeing the situation slipping out of control, a senior temple officer started making announcement through the public address system, cautioning 'fake' pilgrims against climbing the chariots. "We found lots of unwanted occupants on the chariot. We evicted them with the help of police and priests," he said.

Since the annual festivity of the deities was beamed live by several television channels, a number of priests flaunted their supremacy by standing before the deities, blocking the visibility for others. Some priests attracted eyeballs by wearing huge quantities of gold ornaments in neck and fingers.

Sources said 84 members, including priests, ghantuas (who beat gongs) and some police are supposed to be present on Balabhadra's chariot followed by 96 on Jagannath's chariot and 72 on Subhadra's chariot. But not less than 200 persons were present on each one of them.

Three teams, comprising senior district officials and police personnel, were formed to ensure that pilgrims and unwanted priests stay away from the chariots.
 

Source: The Times of India, DT. July 11, 2013.