Maa Tarini ‘secret rituals’ go viral, priest suspended

Bhubaneswar/Keonjhar: Playing with the sentiments of millions of devotees, one of the priests of Maa Tarini temple of Ghatagaon in Keonjhar, uploaded pictures of some ‘secret rituals’ (Gupta Nitee) of the goddess on social networking sites here on Thursday.

According to reports, chief priest of the temple Pradip Dehury  uploaded the pictures of the ritual conducted early in the morning daily before the temple opens for public.

Strictly confined to the temple precincts and between the chief priests and other sevayats, the photographs went viral as soon as they were uploaded sparking widespread resentment from devotees across the state.

Admitting the lapse and ‘mis-conduct’ by the priest, the Tarini Temple Trust Board has dismissed Dehury after a high-level emergency meeting convened today.

The Temple Board has also served a show-cause to Dehury, who has claimed that his son accompanied him to the temple this morning and clicked the photographs. He later uploaded the pictures on his facebook account.