Odisha: Congress will organize Sankirtan to open the doors of Sri Mandir

Bhubaneswar: The Congress party will organize ‘Sankirtan Satyagraha’ in front of Jagannath temples across the state on November 9 to reiterate its demand for opening all four gates of the Jagannath temple in Puri during the holy month of Kartik.

Announcing this, OPCC president Sharat Patnaik on Sunday hit out at the state government for its indifference towards the problems faced by devotees in entering the temple through only one door. “During the month of Kartik lakhs of devotees are coming to Puri to have darshan of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra. Women, especially old people, widows and Habisyaalis, fast during the month and worship the deities,” he said.

Patnaik said devotees face difficulties in getting darshan of the deities inside the temple as they have to stand in queues for hours in front of the Singhdwar (Lions Gate) of the temple. “We had asked the government to take steps to open all doors,” he said. Temple gates till 28th October. Since the government has failed to meet our demand, the party has decided to intensify its agitation by organizing Sankirtan Satyagraha in the state,” he said.

As per the programme, Congress workers will light ‘diyas’ and perform sankirtan in front of Jagannath temples in all blocks, sub-divisions and NACs across the state from 9 am to 12 noon on November 9, he said.