The President offering prayers at the Jagannath Tempe in Hauz Khas, (Image: ANI)
On June 20, President Draupadi Murmu went to the Jagannath Temple located in the Hauz Khas area of the capital city of Delhi. She informed about the same through her, official Twitter handle. However, the pictures sparked controversy and many started peddling fake news and allegations regarding her ‘caste’.
Notably, it is not just Murmu but the Ex-President Kovind also witnessed the same controversy when he chose to worship on the stairs of Brahma temple in Pushkar.
People on the internet questioned the temple authorities for not allowing Murmu to enter the Garbhgrih as she is a ‘Dalit’. As the other ministers, including Dharmendra Pradhan and Ashwini Vaishnaw, were permitted to perform the puja there.
On June 26, Ravinder Nath Pradhan, Secretary, Sree Neelachala Seva Sangha, Jagannath Temple, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, exposed the allegations of discrimination against the President.
He said, “There is no place for discrimination at Lord’s home. I felt appalled by the level of propaganda being spread online. I was informed about it yesterday. By spreading such lies, these elements are creating hurdles in future temple visits of the President.”
Notably, the President visited the temple marking the beginning of the Jagannath Rath yatra and it happened to be her birthday as well.
Pradhan said, “Though she could have come at the time of Yatra, President decided to come early to ensure her presence does not cause inconvenience to the devotees. It was her birthday too. Initially, she was supposed to do puja and leave in 5-10 minutes, but she stayed for 45 minutes. It was an honour for everyone here that the President visited the Temple and received blessings from Shri Jagannath.”
About the so-called discrimination, the priest said, “It is a lie that President faced any discrimination at the Temple. Every year, Garhbhgrih is open only for 30 minutes to do Avahan of Bhagwan Jagannath for the Rath Yatra. It is a ritual that the chief guest participates in Avahan. Only Pujaris and chief guest is allowed to enter Garbhgrih for the puja and no one else.”
He added, “When President came, it was early morning. We followed every protocol while maintaining the regulations on the premises. She decided to stand outside the wooden plank and do the puja. We had arranged a chair for her for the puja, but she is a devotee of Bhagwan Jagannath. She firmly refused to use the chair and said either she would sit on the floor or do puja while standing there. Generally, there are six Pandits who perform puja, but only two are allowed to go close to her for the puja. The rest of them stay at a distance, as asked by her security personnel. Even I did not go close to her during puja. If she wanted, we would have obliged and let her enter Garbhgrih. After all, she is the President. But being an informed devotee, she did not ask for anything above the rules. If you are aware, she does not touch onion and garlic. This is the level of devotion she has for Bhagwan Jagannath.”
“She is our pride. She is Odisha’s pride. I do not understand where this discussion of discrimination came from,” Pradhan added.
About other ministers allowed to pray from inside the Garbhgrih, he said, “If you are talking about Delhi LG, Dharmendra Pradhan and others, they were chief guests on respective Yatras. As I said, in Puri, the King performs a puja and does Avahan of Bhagwan Jagannath for the Yatra. Here, our chief guest fulfils that duty. Whichever minister has photos while being in Garbhgrih, he was the chief guest of Yatra. To be honest, we follow our rules to the word. We do not even allow the family members of the temple administration to enter Garbhgrih. Many are unaware that Shaligram stones are placed under Bhagwan’s idols. It is unauspicious to touch those stones with your feet. How can we even think of doing that? There was a time when Pandits would allow devotees to enter Garbhgrih in Puri in exchange for money, but that was strictly stopped by the administration years ago. In our Temple in Delhi, we have never allowed anyone to go inside except Pandits for puja,” he added.
He said, “I am afraid such rumours will cause a chain of events leading to the dismissal of any future temple visits of the President. Every temple administration will be honoured if the President visits the Temple. But do you think she would go if such rumours were being spread after her visit? It will be sad if President decides not to go to temples. Being a devotee, she should continue to visit temples.”
It is pertinent to mention that those peddling fake information and Tweets include, self-proclaimed Dalit activist and controversial communist professor Dilip Mandal. He wrote on Twitter, “In the Jagannath temple of Delhi, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is seen performing rituals inside and touching the idols. However, it is alarming that at the same temple, President Draupadi Murmu, the esteemed first citizen of the Indian Republic, was obliged to perform her prayers from the outside.”
Check his Tweets here and here.
The tweet immediately evoked controversy and got more than 406K views and 1,400 retweets. The question over the claims of BJP’s inclusivity again came to the fore. Ashwini Kumar Pankaj, a Jharkhand-based Adivasi scholar, referring to the incident says, “It reflects on the Manuwadi mentality of BJP. The existing caste hierarchy among them is so embedded that even if she becomes the President of the country, she would not be allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum.”
Founder of DNN Hindi, journalist Vaibhav Kumar said, “Ashwini Vaishnav and Dharmendra Pradhan can enter the sanctum sanitarium of the Delhi Jagannath Mandir in Hauz khas but a wooden barrier for President Draupadi Murmu. Caste defines your status in India; everything else doesn’t count.”
It is worth mentioning that no one is allowed to enter the Garbhgriha except if it is Awahan Puja, both the ministers quoted in these pictures have visited the temple during Awahan only. In Puri, this puja is performed by the King. However, in other Jagannath Temples where Rath Yatra happens, the chief guest performs the puja. Only those who perform puja on the day of Rath Yatra are allowed to enter Garbhgrih for a 30-minute window. The wooden plank is placed again once the puja is done. “If President Murmu had reached the Temple at the time of Avahan, she would have done the Puja inside Garbhgrih,” said Pradhan.
Notably, when Ram Nath Kovind was the President of the country a similar controversy erupted in 2018. Saying that Kovind was not allowed to enter the Brahma temple in Pushkar and that he had offered prayers from the stairs. With a claim that, priests had objected to the president entering the temple on caste grounds, thus compelling him to worship outside.
Despite the local administration claiming that the prayers were offered from outside the temple because the president’s wife had difficulty in climbing the stairs, various posts and tweets asserted that the president had been a victim of casteism.
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