Puri: Even as many believe that Mahatma Gandhi had never visited Puri Sri Jagannath temple his entire life due to restrictions against 'Harijans' entry, a hand-written document of 100 years old, in possession of OTV, clearly stated that the Father of Nation had made a trip to the 12th-century shrine and offered obeisance to the Holy Trinity in the sanctum sanctorum.
The devotees' register in which Gandhiji had expressed his experience in Gujarati language has clearly indicated about his Srimandir visit.
The ancestral priest of Gandhi's family and Gujarati devotee, Raghunath Gochhikar who has stored the write up narrates "Gandhiji had visited the Srimandir on March 27, 1921 along with his wife Kasturba and other family members. After offering prayers in the temple, he had signed in the devotees’ register in which he had written that he had had darshan of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Devi Subhadra in the sanctum sanctorum and felt immensely blessed.
Raghunath further said that it was the incident that dates back to the time of his grandfather Gopinath Gochhikar as a servitor at the temple then.
Gandhian writer Gourang Charan Parida has also echoed similar views. He said that the Mahatma had visited Odisha on March 23, 1921, and had spent three days in Puri starting March 26. On the second day of his three-day sojourn, he and his wife had offered prayers at the 'Bhitara Bedha', Parida said.
"When he had reached Puri, there was a beeline of people on the Bada Danda to take a glimpse of Bapuji. He was taken to the temple in a horse carriage amid rousing welcome with royal umbrella, elephants and horses," the Gandhian writer said.
Similarly, the Sarovadaya Fair Committee which is organizing an event to commemorate 100 years anniversary of Gandhiji’s Puri trip has also corroborated the fact.
The Committee president, Umaballav Mahapatra said "After 1921, he had revisited Puri in 1936 and unveiled the statue of Gopabandhu near Singhadwar. That time, he had not entered the shrine. So, people have taken this incident otherwise. But, the fact is he was a great devotee of Lord Jagannath and paid a visit to the temple."
Sources said Gandhiji had got only one opportunity once in his life to have darshan of the deities even as he had visited the pilgrim town eight times between 1921 and 1938.
Edited By Suryakant Jena