Cuttack: Deprived of the darshan of Lord Dhabaleswar since yesterday over administration-priests dispute, thousands of devotees, who were lined up since early morning to catch a glimpse of the God, broke open the door of the temple and offered prayers inside the sanctum sanctorum on the occasion of Bada Osha.
Priests’ samiti had kept the temple shut for devotees since Friday protesting administration’s decision of barricade. They have been on dharna since yesterday.
On Friday, the administration put barricades outside the temple to control the crowd on the second day of Panchaka. The move didn’t go well with the servitors who protested it by locking the door of the temple.
According to reports, the administration held multiple meetings with the protesting priests to resolve the issues. Till late at night, Cuttack Collector, Athagarh sub-collector, SP and other senior officers were present and discussed with the priests. However, the meetings didn’t yield any fruits.
Priests performed the rituals inside the temple in the morning but didn’t allow the devotees to go inside and offer prayers. Irate over the move, devotees broke the door to get access to the lord.
“No one can pose any obstacle between God and his devotees. We were standing in the queue since 4 am and now got the darshan of Baba Dhabaleswar on the auspicious day of Bada Osha. We are feeling blessed,” a devotee said.
“All the rituals including khechudi Bhoga, alati, sankhudi Bhoga were performed in time. Now, lord Dhabaleswar is giving darhshan to devotees in Bada Singhar Besha. The divine Gaja Bhoga will be offered during the transition of Trayodashi and Chaturdashi,” a priest said.
The Dhabaleswar shrin witnesses a huge footfall of devotees and Bada Osha observers during Maha Panchaka days of Karttik month.
