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The Odisha Congress party has proposed a ‘Tulsi Yatra,’ or basil leaf pilgrimage, to protest alleged mismanagement at the 12th-century Jagannath Temple in Puri. The decision to begin the yatra was made just hours after ten devotees were unconscious due to a tremendous crowd at the shrine on Friday. The yatra, according to State Congress President Sarat Pattnayak, will involve gathering tulsi leaves from homes across 314 blocks of the state and offering them to Lord Jagannath in Puri.
Holy Month Of ‘Kartik’ And Odhisa
A large number of people attend the temple this time of year because it is the holy month of ‘Kartik,’ he said, adding that they are having issues because the administration has closed three of the four gates and is only allowing entry only through the ‘Singha Dwar’.
“We demand the opening of all the gates in order to avoid major accidents, like a stampede, as more devotees will visit the temple during the ‘Panchuka’ — the last five days of Kartik,” Pattnayak said.
Date of ‘Yatra’ To Be Decided Soon
The ‘yatra’ date will be decided soon, he said. Tulsi leaves would be collected from homes across the state and brought to the party’s state headquarters in Bhubaneswar, where they will be transported to Puri and given to Lord Jagannath, he said. The Congress block presidents will lead the program, which will include people from all walks of life, he noted.
Pattnayak expressed concern for the safety of worshipers visiting the temple as well as the valuables in its ‘Ratna Bhandar,’ which has been closed since 1978. According to Ranjan Kumar Das, chief administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), the temple’s three gates are locked due to the ongoing work for the heritage corridor project. To this, the Congress leader said that the project work could wait, but not until the holy month of Kartik.
Source:in
