Lord Jagannath is fond of devotees. However, devotees are not allowed to have darshan of the Lord in a temple in Kendrapara district. They only get the opportunity of Lord’s darshan during Rath Yatra.
As per reports, entry of the devotees is not allowed in the Keradagada Jagannath temple under Rajnagar block of the district for 18 long years. The devotees are only allowed to get a glimpse of Lord Jagannath through an iron grille that has been put at a distance of 50 ft from the entrance gate. Since 2006, the devotees are only allowed to bow before the Lord near the entrance of the temple and offer a raw coconut through the priest as ‘prasad’.
“We are only allowed to have darshan of Lord Jagannath only through the gap of the grille and offer raw coconut through the priest as prasad. We are hopeful that devotees will be allowed to have darshan of the Lord in the near future,” said Manjulata Parida, a devotee.
Why Darshan is not allowed?
There was a time when the temple premises was hustling and bustling with devotees. However, a confrontation reportedly between groups of different castes in the area on ‘Kartika Purnima’ in 2006, led to a chaotic situation and the rituals of the temple was stalled for 10 days. Even the Lord had to go on fast during the period.
Even the matter went to the High Court and the then Collector was directed to solve the issue at the earliest. However, the matter could not be resolved despite many rounds of discussions between both parties. Eventually, the darshan of devotees and offerings of ‘prasad’ were prohibited in the temple. It was decided that devotees could only offer raw coconut to the Lord. The tradition is still continuing even after 18 long years. The devotees only get the darshan of the Lord during the annual Rath Yatra when the deities come out of the temple for a nine-day-long sojourn to the ‘Mausima’ temple.
“Darshan of the deities was prohibited following a confrontation between groups of a lower caste and an upper caste in the area over offering prasad. The situation went so out of control that the administration had to intervene. Darshan of Lord Jagannath has been prohibited inside the temple. Devotees are allowed to offer only coconut as prasad,” said Somnath Sarangi, the priest of the temple.
Rajnagar Tehsildar Ajay Mohanty said normalcy has gradually returned in the area.
“Normalcy has gradually returned to the area and people are demanding to allow darshan of the Lord inside the temple. A decision in this regard will be taken following a discussion with the Collector,” said Mohanty.