Tensions between Priests, Police at Bahuda Yatra

Puri, July 19, 2013: The Bahuda Yatra experienced its share of tension when some priests engaged in an altercation with police and temple officials over eviction of devotees from Jagannath's rath on Thursday.

The priests mobbed and booed police officers and shrine authorities and threatened to disrupt rituals, creating chaos for nearly half an hour. Apprehending trouble, police and temple officials relented.

Some influential priests had allegedly allowed devotees, clad in priestly attire, to occupy the deck of the chariot hours before Jagannath was brought onto it. Noticing too many people atop the rath, temple's chief administrator Arvind Padhee asked them to climb down after the 'chhera pahanra'. When devotees, who reportedly shelled out good amounts to the priests, did not pay heed, Padhee asked police to bring them down, leading to the commotion.

Defending the priests, Ramakrushna Dasmohapara, a servitor, said, "Police insulted the devotees. Rath Yatra is the only occasion when devotees get a chance to go close to the deities."

"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. Pilgrims standing on the ground struggled for a view of the deities because of overcrowding on the chariots," Padhee said.

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

The confrontation between police and priests upset several pilgrims. "The administration should not have succumbed to the blackmailing of some priests. It is high time the administration deals with them effectively. Devotees should not be denied darshan of deities because of rich pilgrims occupying the chariot," said Prahalad Tripathy, a devotee from Dhenkanal.

Source: The Times of India, DT. July 19, 2013.