Servitor-admin spat sees Dhabaleswar temple locked on Panchuka, devotees vent anger

Lakhs of devotees, who had made a beeline for a darshan of Baba Dhabaleswar in Cuttack’s Athagarh on the second day of Panchuka today, had to return empty-handed after the servitors locked up the temple on Friday over a dispute with the district administration.

As per reports, the servitors were angry over the alleged arbitrary auction of two cycle stands near the temple and putting up of barricades from the suspension bridge to the temple which hindered devotees from handing over donations to the servitors.

As per reports, a huge crowd of devotees thronged to see Dhabaleswar today. The darshan was going on peacefully after the completion of the rituals at 3am. However, at 10 am, the priests suddenly closed the main and exit doors of the temple and locked the Parvati temple, and staged a sit-in.

They alleged that while there were no barricades throughout the Kartik month, why suddenly the administration put up a barricade in Panchuka from the new bridge to the temple. As a result, devotees were no longer able to offer bhog or dakshina (donation) to the priests.

Moreover, while the temple priest committee has auctioned the cycle stand, the Cuttack district administration has allegedly auctioned two more bicycle stands arbitrarily. The agitators alleged that this caused severe losses to them.

“The devotees who came with bhog to offer the Lord were made to stand in queues for a long time. They were not allowed to go near the priests due to the barricade.” said priest, Ajay Kumar Patri.

Meanwhile, the frustration of the devotees, who were waiting from midnight to have a glimpse of Baba Dhabaleswar turned into anger. The district administration held a meeting with the servitors in the afternoon after seeing the resentment among lakhs of devotees due to the closure of the temple.

“The servitors stopped offering bhoga. Even that was OK for some devotees. But they should not have stopped darshan. I have been standing since 7am with my child. It is afternoon now, and there is no sight of the reopening of the temple doors yet,” said a woman, venting her anger.

“They have been in a meeting for long and we the devotees are suffering by standing in the queue. Baba Dhabaleswar is not the property of the servitors. Why are they stopping us from getting a darshan? Why are we suffering for a dispute between the admin and the servitors?” asked an angry devotee standing in the queue.

However, when the meeting failed to pacify the servitors, the sub-collector issued a notice to take disciplinary action if the doors of the temple were not opened within an hour.

Cuttack Additional SP, Debadutta Baral said, “The servitors locked up the Temple over minor issues which resulted in halting of the darshan after 10am this morning. We are trying to pacify them. Crowd management and the safety of the devotees is our priority. We cannot compromise on that. If it needs barricading, then we will do it.”

As per the latest reports, the temple was not opened till the evening and there was no certainty over its opening tomorrow too.