Odisha: Governor pleads with Puri Gajapati King for allowing foreigners to pray at Jagannath temple

By Nupur Priyadarshini Prusty

Puri, Jan. 13: Odisha governor Professor Ganeshi Lal on Friday urged Puri Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb and Adi Guru Shankaracharya to allow foreign devotees to enter Jagannath temple to pay offerings to Lord Jagannath.

The governor said this while addressing the inaugural function of Odisha Vision 2036 Conclave.

“Foreign devotees can meet Puri Gajapati, Adi Shankaracharya and servitors. Then, they should not be debarred from meeting Lord Jagannath inside the temple,” pointed out Lal. Being associated with Odisha, he requested the Puri Maharaja and Jagatguru to consider it even though many people will go against it.

The governor said, “A foreign devotee is allowed to meet Puri King, Adi Guru Shankaracharya and servitors. Thus, he should be allowed to meet the Lord.”

Over the years, only Hindus by descent have been allowed to have darshan of Lord Jagannath and His siblings – Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra – inside the Jagannath Temple of Puri.  In 1984, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was not even allowed by priests to enter the temple as she had married a Parsi.

In 2006, a Swiss citizen named Elizabeth Jigler was denied entry as she was a Christian.  Even as she donated  Rs 1.78 crore to the temple, she was not given entry, sources said. When the issue was raised in 2006, Puri King was quoted as saying, “As Puri is the original seat of the Lord Jagannath, there is restriction on the entry of non-Hindus into the temple. However, they can have darshan of the Lord in other Jagannath temples elsewhere.”