Puri temple servitor ‘forces’ elderly devotee to carry slippers on his head
Bhubaneswar: An elderly devotee, who had inadvertently entered the Puri Jagannath Temple complex wearing his slippers on Wednesday, faced humiliation when a servitor allegedly forced him to place the footwear on his head while mockingly referring to it as ‘Ram Charan Paduka’.
As the video went viral, it triggered widespread criticism of the servitor’s behaviour. “The servitor can be heard hurling abuses at the senior citizen, who looked very frightened and distressed. The devotee by mistake wore his slippers. The servitor has no right to humiliate the devotee,” said Anshuman Mohanty, a social media user.
“The servitor, instead of politely guiding the devotee about temple protocols, chose to mock him by forcing him to place the slippers on his head. I had heard a lot about the misconduct of servitors. Now I came across an example,” commented Prahalad Swain, another user.
The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) said no formal complaint has been received. “It is an unfortunate incident. We will ascertain the facts,” SJTA’s chief administrator Arabind Padhee said.
Temple authorities said while maintaining sanctity is essential, it shouldn’t compromise on the dignity of devotees.
The incident has brought to the fore recurring cases of alleged misconduct by servitors at Jagannath Temple. On Jan 5, the SJTA had imposed a three-month suspension on a servitor for alleged misconduct and attacking a colleague on temple grounds on Dec 16 last year.
Earlier, a temple employee was assaulted by a servitor inside the garbha gruha (sanctum sanctorum) following a scuffle on Oct 13, 2023. A case was registered against the priest. Two servitors had also faced attempt-to-murder charges for assaulting another priest at the temple on Oct 9, 2023. The conflict arose from disagreements over their authority to manage the darshan for devotees from Rajasthan.
As the video went viral, it triggered widespread criticism of the servitor’s behaviour. “The servitor can be heard hurling abuses at the senior citizen, who looked very frightened and distressed. The devotee by mistake wore his slippers. The servitor has no right to humiliate the devotee,” said Anshuman Mohanty, a social media user.
“The servitor, instead of politely guiding the devotee about temple protocols, chose to mock him by forcing him to place the slippers on his head. I had heard a lot about the misconduct of servitors. Now I came across an example,” commented Prahalad Swain, another user.
The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) said no formal complaint has been received. “It is an unfortunate incident. We will ascertain the facts,” SJTA’s chief administrator Arabind Padhee said.
Temple authorities said while maintaining sanctity is essential, it shouldn’t compromise on the dignity of devotees.
The incident has brought to the fore recurring cases of alleged misconduct by servitors at Jagannath Temple. On Jan 5, the SJTA had imposed a three-month suspension on a servitor for alleged misconduct and attacking a colleague on temple grounds on Dec 16 last year.
Earlier, a temple employee was assaulted by a servitor inside the garbha gruha (sanctum sanctorum) following a scuffle on Oct 13, 2023. A case was registered against the priest. Two servitors had also faced attempt-to-murder charges for assaulting another priest at the temple on Oct 9, 2023. The conflict arose from disagreements over their authority to manage the darshan for devotees from Rajasthan.
