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Bhubaneswar: Union Minister Vijay Goel landed in controversy for posting photographs of the sanctum sanctorum (Garbhagriha) of Lingaraj temple on Twitter. Goel had posted a few pictures of himself worshiping and offering prayers to the Lord to wish people of Odisha on the occasion of Utkal Dibasa yesterday.
Official sources said the pictures inside the 11th century shrine were clicked during his Odisha visit last year.
In his Twitter post, Goel wrote, “Greetings of #UtkalaDibasa to our brothers, sisters and friends from #Odisha! Some pictures of my trip to the majestic Lingaraja Temple in Bhubaneswar last year.”
Greetings of #UtkalaDibasa to our brothers, sisters and friends from #Odisha! Some pictures from my trip to the majestic Lingaraja Temple in Bhubaneswar last year. pic.twitter.com/gi0lzvX1O7
— Vijay Goel (@VijayGoelBJP) April 1, 2018
The incident has now sparked off resentment while opposition Congress has targeted the Union Minister for hurting the sentiments of people of Odisha as there is a restriction of photography inside the shrine.
“The Union Minister clicking photographs inside the temple is totally unfortunate and he should resign,” said Congress leader Sura Routray.
Meanwhile, BJP general secretary Prithiviraj Harichandan on the other hand stated that a lot of temples in country allow photography during worship.
“It seems that the Union Minister was not aware of the fact that such photography is not permitted inside Puri Srimandir as well as Lingaraj temple in Odisha,” said Harichandan.
Harichandan further stated that it is the basic responsibility of temple administration, priests and others to inform VIPs and other dignataries visiting temple about the existing restrictions including entry of mobile phones or photography.
It may be recalled that earlier Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon had also courted controversy after she allegedly shot for a commercial inside the temple complex last month.
Meanwhile, Lingaraj Temple administration today termed the photography by Union Minister Vijay Goel inside the temple as ‘unfortunate’.
Executive Officer Rajiv Parida said that the matter will be thoroughly investigated and the Union Minister will be asked to delete the pictures from social media.
Later, the Union Minister tendered his apology for posting the pictures on social media.
Yesterday on the occasion of #UtkalaDibasa, I had by mistake tweeted pictures of the Lingaraja Temple from my trip last year. I did not wish to hurt anyone's sentiments and therefore, I am withdrawing the tweet/images.
— Vijay Goel (@VijayGoelBJP) April 2, 2018
