Puri, Nov 21: The contentious statement made by Shree Jagannath Temple Administration chief Ranjan Das regarding the visit of elders to the shrine has attracted sharp reactions from different sections of people in the State.

Many see it to be a well-planned move to hide SJTA's failure in managing crowds in the world-famous Hindu religious shrine.

Notably, SJTA Chief Das yesterday urged upon elder people not to visit the Jagannath Temple during rush hours in the current month of Kartika. He advised them to offer prayers to the deities from their respective houses.

"The anti-Sanatan mentality of the State government came to the fore. The SJTA Chief Administrator has asked the elderly people not to come for Jagannath Darshan during rush hours. The temple is thronged by devotees every year during Panchuka (Last five days of Kartika month). How can he advise devotees not to come to the temple," wanted to know a septuagenarian devotee.

The devotee alleged that the temple administration has failed to manage the crowd of devotees and has hurt religious sentiments to hide its inefficiency.

Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahtab said it was not wise on the part of the Chief Administrator to say this.

"I don't know on what basis he said this. It would have been better if he had not said this," said Mahtab.

Notably, Chhattisgarh Governor Vishwabhushan Harichandan recently expressed his concern over devotees's pain in having darshan of Lord Jagannath in the Shreemandir.

He expressed his anguish in an Odia article titled "Darshan must be disciplined, pain must be avoided" published in a newspaper recently.

It is worth mentioning here that people belonging to different sections of society have been demanding the opening of Chari Dwar (Four Gates) of the temple for smooth entry and exit of devotees for long. However, the government has not responded to the demand yet.

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