Pay and Pray!

Puri: Pitu travels from Lucknow to Puri to visit the majestic Jagannath Dham. As she reaches the spot, she gets stuck by reading ’Only Hindus are allowed’. Though, she being a Hindu was permitted to enter the temple but the discriminatory custom left her grief stricken. As she enters the holy premises, a Panda (Priest) insisted on acting as her guide in lieu of money which she half-heartedly accepted. Making her way through the crowd, she reaches the Garbh Griha (the heart of the temple where idols of Lord Jaganath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are enshrined), where the head priest chants slokas, blesses her and demands for Rs.500. On denial, she was accused of being ‘Dharm bhrast’. Disgruntled with the so-called ‘devotion’ of Pandas, Pitu departs with a heavy heart!

Such gloomy experiences of pilgrims bring a bad name to the famous Jagannath Dham. Unlike Gurudwaras where people get free food (langar), here ‘prashad’ also has a price attached to it. The dismal situation depicts that Pandas objective of serving the shrine has been substituted by their greed to earn. In defiance, Shankar, a panda tells, “Asking for money is a means to earn our livelihood and maintain the temple.”

Commercialization of festivals and institutions is still acceptable but when one finds a spiritual place turning to a commercial venture, it is likely to disturb one’s peace of mind. Despite such exploitation by Pandas, the percentage of pilgrims is galloping as people are ready to pay huge sums to get a glimpse of Lord Jagannath-The savior of the World!

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