Puri: Once again a photo of Puri Jagannath Temple’s inner premises has gone viral on social media, corroborating the allegation of security lapses at four gates of the 12th century shrine raised from time to time.
While an Instagram profile ‘indian.temples’ has shared the photo, the same photo was shared by artist Shalini Passi on her verified Id February 2.
Notably, a photo of the temple interiors had gone viral June 20, 2019. In the picture, some Patara Bisoyi servitors of the temple were seen preparing sacred threads for Lord Jagannath. October 7 the same year, several pictures of the shrine’s interiors had gone viral. In this case, the police had arrested one Debashis Singh, a resident of Badasankha area in Puri district for clicking and uploading the photos on social media platforms.
In the same year, a girl of Nirakarpur area had recorded the inside visuals of the Jagannath temple and posted it on video sharing app Tik Tok. Similarly, a video featuring an Odia film actress along with her kin having ‘Mahaprasad’ at Anand Bazaar had gone viral.
It is worth mentioning, mobile phone, cameras are prohibited in the 12th century shrine. According to Section 30-A (4-C) of the Jagannath Temple Act, 1953, devotees cannot take their cameras into the shrine. The violation of the Act is a punishable offence and attracts imprisonment up to two months and a fine of Rs 1,000.
Occurrences of such incidents have exposed the security loopholes at the shrine. There are well-visible notice boards at the four entrances of the temple, making people aware about the ban. Despite round the clock tight security and presence of metal detectors at the four gates, that people being able to take their mobile phones into the temple has caused astonishment among the local residents and devotees.
PNN