Long Puri temple queues test devotees

Long Puri temple queues test devotees

Nov 21, 2023, 04.46 AM IST

Bhubaneswar: “I will never ever visit the Jagannath Temple after such a bitter and horrible experience,” said Manorama Hota, 75, a devotee from Cuttack after she almost fainted in a queue while waiting for over three hours outside the shrine on Monday. Fourteen-year-old devotee Susama Maharana from Kendrapada was rushed to Puri district headquarters hospital as she fainted while waiting in the queue for several hours.

Like Hota and Maharana, countless devotees face untold suffering for a hassle-free darshan almost every day. Monday was no different with queues stretching up to two km from Market Square to the temple. The intense torture often starts when thousands of devotees are asked to wait in multiple queues outside the temple until they get a green signal from the authorities to enter the shrine.

As per the existing crowd management, devotees are made to wait outside the temple for hours until pilgrims inside the shrine premises move out. “We are forced to block the flow of devotees outside the temple for some time so that others leave the premises. Devotees are being allowed inside the temple in phases. This regulation is being done only when we witness huge footfall of devotees. The Supreme Court directed the government to introduce queue management system. If we allow thousands of devotees in groups at a time, there would be stampede-like situations,” a temple police officer said.

While about 30,000 devotees visit the temple on a normal day, the footfall increases to about 1 lakh during the ongoing holy Kartika month. Most of the visitors are elderly women, who observe kartika brata. Devotees demand better management of the darshan system. “We have no issues with the queue management system. But people in the queues should be allowed to move on instead of being forced to remain stagnant for three to five hours,” said Niranjan Mishra, a devotee from Balasore.

Rashmi Dey, a devotee from Kolkata, said temples in other states have better facilities than Puri. “We waited for three hours in the queue outside the temple. There are no drinking water and toilet facilities. The system should improve,” Dey said.