Amidst an intensive debate triggered in the wake of the Supreme Court’s suggestion for entry of non-Hindus into the Jagannath Temple in Puri, history witnessed that even the Puri Gajapati Maharaja, the first servitor of the lords, was not allowed to enter the shrine.

According to the Madala Panji (the palm-leaf chronicles of the Jagannath Temple), Gajapati Maharaja Ramachandra Deb was restricted for entry into the temple because he had married a Mughal soldier’s daughter, Rejiya.

As the then Gajapati was deprived of all the services that he was entitled to do for the deities in the temple, a ‘Patitapaban Jagannath’ idol was placed at the Gumuta Gruha standing at the Singhadwar (main entrance) of the temple where he was having darshan of the lord.

It could sound like a story, but it had historical evidence that the Gajapati was barred from the Shreemandir because of his wedding with a Muslim girl.

In fact, Ramachandra Deb was forced to marry the then Mughal soldier’s daughter to protect the temple from Muslim militants’ attack and for safety of the Jagannath culture, says former Mukti Mandap adviser Durga Prasad Mohapatra.

Once on request of Rejiya, the king had visited the shrine for darshan of the deities. While entering into the temple, the Mukti Mandap scholars urged him to refrain from doing his service to the lords, Mohapatra says, quoting the Madala Panji.

The Gajapati accepted the Mukti Mandap’s verdict and the Patitapaban Jagannath idol was placed at the Gumuta Gruha. Since then, the Patitapaban Jagannath idol is being worshipped for the non-Hindus at the Gumuta Gruha. The devotees belonging to other religions are also having darshan of lord Jagannath standing in front of the Singhadwar, Mohapatra says.

It’s unfortunate to consider allowing people belonging to other religions into the temple where Gajapati Maharaja was restricted from entering into it, he says while expressing his views on the suggestions for entry of non-Hindus into the temple as part of bringing reforms in the 12th-Century shrine.

Historian Kharavel Mohanty also says that the Gajapati was banned from entering the temple in view of the temple’s traditions.