Price Rise of Temple Tickets Kicks up Storm

BY: SUN STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Mar 15, JAGANNATHA PURI, ORISSA — The decision of Jagannath Temple authorities to enforce the hiked price of special (parimanik) tickets from Monday has been put off following stiff opposition by a certain group of priests of Pratihari Nijog.

"We decided not to implement the hiked fee of parimanik tickets for the time being due to protest by Pratihari priests. It has been deferred till Tuesday. The matter would be discussed at the temple managing committee meeting on Tuesday," Puri District Collector and temple's Deputy Chief Administrator, Fakir Charan Satapathy said. "Until a final decision is taken, parimaniktickets would be available in the old rate," Satapathy said.

The Jagannath Temple administration on Saturday announced a hike for special tickets to Rs 100 and Rs 25 from Rs 25 and Rs 5, respectively, from Monday. The shrine administration claimed that by raising the ticket prices it can streamline the daily rituals and control the rush of devotees at the temple, much to the chagrin of Pratihari priests.

Interestingly, the parimaniktickets were sold as per the hiked rate in the morning, before the decision to defer it was taken in the evening.

Earlier on Monday, the Pratihari priests threw a spanner in the works of daily rituals at the shrine by going on strike in protest against the hike in prices of tickets for the ‘paid' darshan of the Deities. They even launched a signature campaign outside the temple to garner support from pilgrims.

The priests did not render any service near the presiding sibling Deities on Monday, thereby delaying the shrine's daily rituals for hours together. Some of the agitating priests even staged demonstration and shouted slogans against the Jagannath Temple administration for the rise in ticket prices.

"We strongly oppose the hike in prices of parimanik tickets. The temple administration should completely revoke the hike for the convenience of pilgrims," said Artatrana Pratihari, Secretary of the Pratihari Nijog, to media persons. "How can the administration try to prevent pilgrims from going close to the Deities by hiking the ticket prices?" Pratihari asked.

Meanwhile, the strike by Pratihari priests put a negative repercussion on the shrine cooks (suar), who failed to sell off Mahaprasad till late afternoon due to delay in completion of rituals. They even reportedly gheraoed the temple office demanding immediate interference of shrine officials in the matter.

There are other priests in the temple who find no problem with the price hike of tickets. "While people can purchase daily commodities by paying hefty amounts and purchase tickets for entertainment and cricket matches, cannot they pay Rs 100 only for having Jagannath darshan from close distance?" asked Sadananda Panda, a priest. "If they cannot pay Rs 100 to go into sanctum sanctorum, they can watch the Deities free of cost by standing outside the sanctum sanctorum most of the time throughout the day," Panda said.