The foreigner outside Jagannath temple. Picture by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 20: Commotion broke out at the 12th Century Jagannath temple in Puri today following the entry of a foreign national into the shrine that bars non-Hindus from entering.

The priests held lax security arrangements responsible for the incident and expressed dissatisfaction at the verification process being followed by the men in uniform deployed at the temple.

The incident took place around 10am when the foreigner, who said he was Ram Babu Das, sneaked into the temple through the Singhadwar (Lion’s Gate), the main entrance.

The man successfully crossed the Baisi Pahacha (the 22 steps leading to the main temple) but was stopped near a subsidiary shrine on the temple premises. He was caught when he failed to answer questions from the priests about his gotra (clan name). After questioning him for nearly half an hour, the priests handed him over to the temple officials who informed the police. The police let him go after interrogation. Sources said no cleansing ritual was necessitated, as the trespasser did not enter the sanctum sanctorum.

Puri top cop Anup Kumar Sahoo said the foreigner wrote his name as Ram Babu Das in a register of the temple office. “He claimed to have come from Khajuraho. The temple officials released him before police intervened. We are trying to locate him,” said Sahoo.

But sources said the foreigner, who was probably an Iskcon devotee, was a Russian, as only devotees from that country knew a bit of Hindi.

“The incident reflects the state of policing at the temple entrance. Irresponsible frisking and poor surveillance by police are allowing non-Hindus to enter the temple,” said Rabinarayan Das, a temple servitor.