Special Darshan of Lord Jagannath Likely to be Costlier

BY: SUN STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Jan 07, JAGANNATHA PURI, ORISSA — Pilgrims may have to cough up more money to purchase tickets for gaining special darshan of the Deities at Jagannath Temple. The 12th century shrine administration is contemplating a hike in the price of the parimanik tickets through which devotees can go close to the Deities inside the sanctum sanctorum.

"We are planning to increase the price of the parimanik tickets. But it has not been decided. We are holding discussion with various nijogs (associations) of priests," said shrine's Chief Administrator, Ashok Meena.

At present, price of the special ticket for ‘paid' darshan is fixed at Rs 25, and the price has remained unchanged for the last six years. Earlier the ticket used to be sold for Rs 5, before it was hiked to Rs 25. Sources said that now the temple officials are planning to increase it up to Rs 250 per ticket. The temple administration also pays commission to a section of priests, who purchase the tickets for pilgrims.

Notably, pilgrims get an opportunity to have glimpse of the Deities free of cost for nearly one hour every day, in the morning. The ‘free' public darshan lasts up to five hours during festive seasons.

The temple sells nearly four hundred parimanik tickets for ‘paid' darshan on any given day. And the sale of tickets touched nearly two thousand on a peak day, sources said. There is no limitation in the sale of tickets and timing of the special darshan right now. "The special darshan through parimanik tickets lasts up to five to six hours daily. It fluctuates very often. There is no fixed schedule," a temple official said.

The plan to hike the price of tickets is aimed at controlling the crowd, Meena said. "Besides, we would restrict the sale of tickets and frame a schedule to make avail darshan for parimanik ticket holders," the chief administrator said.

It may be noted that the lack of proper schedule for special darshan and unlimited sale of tickets often led to delays in solemnization of daily rituals at the temple. The temple recently witnessed a chaotic situation when shrine cooks, after failing to sell Mahaprasad due to delays in rituals, went on a three-day strike.

"We hope to streamline the rituals by restricting the unlimited sale of parimanik tickets everyday. Priests would get enough time to perform the rituals in right time," Meena said.

According to sources, nearly twenty-three types of rituals are performed at the temple on a normal day, from 6 am till late night. On festival occasions, nearly thirty-two types of rituals are solemnized. This is perhaps the only shrine in the country where a such a complex set of rituals are performed daily.