Row over rush at Puri Srimandir: Temple administrator urges ‘sick & elderly’ to refrain from visiting temple

Hours after OTV telecast the loopholes in the management of devotees and their plights during darshan at Puri Srimandir on Monday, the administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), Ranjan Kumar Das came out with a strange appeal to the devotees. Das made the appeal, saying that elderly and sick devotees should not come during rush days for darshan. 

Speaking to the media, Das said, “We appeal to them (devotees) not to come into the crowd by being excessively enthusiastic. Those, who are extremely sick due to age or feeling physically weak and cannot stand for long hours, can pray to the Lord at any place they like. The Lord will listen to their prayers.”

He added, “From tomorrow, we will make arrangements of a public address system to inform devotees at regular intervals about the situation of the crowd from the Singhadwara to Marichi Kunda. I appeal to devotees through media to come to the information centre before entering the temple. After assessing the situation, the devotees should stand in the queues.”

Also Read: Elderly devotee at Puri Srimandir finds standing in barricade unbearable, cries for help 

The management of the crowd during darshan will be discussed threadbare at a meeting tomorrow, sources said.  
As per reports, the temple administration is supposed to ensure effective management of the crowd coming to the Srimandir, but his appeal to sick and elderly devotees 'not to be excessively enthusiastic' about darshan and to refrain from visiting the temple, has left devotees baffled. 

On Monday, many devotees were found standing in queues for hours and complained about a lack of proper facilities. Visually upsetting images like a woman devotee fainting and an elderly woman sitting down and crying for help triggered outrage.