On Thursday, March 23, the Odisha police arrested a 25-year-old youth named Rahman Khan for entering the Jagannath Puri temple, violating the ban on entry by non-Hindus. Khan, a resident of Murshidabad in West Bengal, forcibly entered the city’s famous Jagannath Puri temple when the security personnel caught him, reports TOI. He has been charged with violating the norms of the temple banning entry of non-Hindus, and also hurting religious sentiments.
The accused reportedly misbehaved and hurled abuses at the authorities when they tried to evict him. He was taken to Singhadwar police station later that night and detained for questioning. The incident reportedly took place around 8.30 pm on Wednesday, hours after West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, who is on a three-day visit to the state, offered prayers at the Hindu shrine.
The police said that Rahman Khan forcibly trespassed into the revered Jagannath Puri Temple by dodging the security personnel and climbed atop the temple dome, with the apparent intention to commit suicide.
The police said that Rahman Khan tried to climb atop the temple’s dome in an attempt to kill himself, however, could not give a convincing reply when authorities asked him about the motive for his plan to commit suicide.
The temple authorities had temporarily closed the facility for deity darshan because an important ritual was about to take place. Challenging the security guards, Khan ran into the temple through its southern gate and as the police authorities ran after him, he started climbing the dome at the Beheran Dwar.
“We arrested him on charges of flouting the temple’s norms and hurting religious sentiments. His intention of forcibly entering the temple is being investigated. We have seized his mobile phone for verification,” a senior police officer said.
The state police are verifying his antecedents with the help of their counterpart in Bengal. Khan’s family has also been briefed about the occurrence. “Our personnel eventually caught hold of him and just as he was being evicted, he started hurling abuses at us,” the police officer said.
“His conduct towards our staff was unpleasant. We do not think he was mentally unstable. He was aware of the temple’s ban on the entry of non-Hindus and yet he forcibly entered the premises,” the police officer added.
Why Jagannath Temple restricts entry of non-Hindus
Jagannath temple is one of the most revered Hindu temples in Odisha and is devoted to Jagannath, a form of Lord Vishnu. Notably, only Hindus are allowed to enter the 12th-century shrine to offer prayers to the sibling deities in the sanctum sanctorum, a norm which has been effective from 1 June 1660. Hindu refers to the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh communities, basically, those covered by the Hindu Marriage Act. Simply put, the temple is open to the followers of Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism) or Indic religions.
The restriction, which was introduced after repeated instances of temple destruction by Muslim invaders, is followed so strictly that even a Gajapati King was not allowed to enter the temple since he was married to a Mughal soldier’s daughter. Similarly, former prime minister Indira Gandhi was also denied entry due to her marriage to a Parsi man.
For the record, Jagannath Temple was invaded 18 times by Mughal tyrants and foreign invaders. The first Muslim invasion was waged by Illlias Shah, the Sultan of Bengal, in 1340. Firuz Shah demolished the temple of Jagannath and desecrated the images around 1360. Sultan Husain Shah of Bengal captured Puri in 1509 and destroyed the idols in Jagannath Temple. The fifteenth invasion was waged by Amir Fateh Khan in 1647. It was only after the Marathas made their way into Odisha that the constant invasions of the Jagannath temple stopped.
Every such raid resulted in destruction, loot and damage to the deities of Puri. During various attacks, the deities were hidden in distant places or shifted from one place to another.
The pain caused by repeated instances of destruction and loot, and efforts by the people of Odisha to save the temple of Lord Jagannath deliberated temple authorities to limit the entry into the temple to only Hindus.
