Puri: Panchuka, the five-day festival that takes place during the last five days of the month of Kartika, started today. In these 5 days, devotees and devotees will witness five different appearances (Beshas) of Lord Jagannath at Puri Srimandir.
On this occasion, ‘Lakshmi Narayan Besha’ of Lord Jagannath was held at Srimandir on Thursday as scores of devotees thronged the temple today.
On the other hand, with the footfall of thousands of devotees in Srimandir for darshan, the Puri district administration and the temple administration have failed to streamline the darshan system. As a result, devotees standing in beelines for hours are suffering the most. Due to the huge footfall of devotees, many had to return without having a darshan of the Holy Trinity.
The district administration is boasting about elaborate arrangements made to ensure smooth darshan for devotees in the temple, the actual scenario is completely different.
The Puri district administration has put up barricades and provided drinking water facilities for the devotees outside the temple. There is no provision for crowd control, especially through Nata Mandap to Jay Vijaya Dwara. There have been instances of many devotees falling down due to suffocation in the crowd while some devotees were also injured.
On day 2 of the holy month of Kartika on Friday, the special ‘Bankachuda Besha’ or ‘Bamana Besha’ of Lord Jagannath will be held at Srimandir.
