Activists protests outside the Jagannath temple in Puri on Friday. Picture by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, June 1: Hundreds of devotees and activists of the Jagannath Sena today entered the Puri Jagannath temple’s sanctum sanctorum defying restrictions imposed by the temple administration.

The sanctum sanctorum had been made out of bounds for devotees in March. Temple officials said the prohibition on entry to the sanctum sanctorum would help ensure timely conduct of rituals. It would also help reduce the smoke from candles lit by devotees inside the sanctum sanctorum.

Temple chief administrator Aurobinda Padhee said: “What they did was illegal. There is a PIL in the high court. The P.K. Mohanty Commission, which probed the 2006 stampede inside the temple in which six devotees were killed, had also recommended that entry of devotees into the sanctum sanctorum should be stopped.”

Padhee said the entry of devotees into the sanctum sanctorum had been restricted to maintain discipline. “ If the servitors suffer a monetary loss, we will try to compensate it. However, we will stick to our decision.” Padhee reached Puri in the evening to hold a review meeting on this issue.

The servitors have expressed reservations about the restrictions. “Why should the devotees purchase tickets of Rs 25 per head to catch a glimpse of the deities from a distance of 50 to 60 feet?” Jagannath Sena chief Priyadarshan Patnaik asked.

Challenging the decision of the temple administration, a petition was also filed before the before the chief administrator of the Jagannath temple for restoration of Paramanik Darshan as it is “a traditional system specifically meant to help old and physically disabled devotees”.

President of the Orissa High Court Bar Association and senior advocate Jayant Das submitted the petition at the office of the revenue divisional commissioner (central division) Arabinda Padhee, who is also the chief administrator of the Puri Jagannath temple. However, the petition is yet to be heard. “They should have patience at least for the hearing,” said temple chief administrator Padhee.

The petition said: “The satwalipi (record of rights) of Jagannath temple clearly prescribes that Paramanik Darshan from garva gruha by the devotees is permissible thrice a day during arati, abakash and chandanlagi rituals. The temple administration cannot interfere with such recorded right by issuing the notification.”