Not very long ago, a highly reputed bureaucrat had expressed a strange desire while discussing critical issues of Odisha with friends. He had just one year as the head of the Jagannath Temple administration. The reason was amusing. A few of his sophisticated friends had come to visit the temple as commoners. But the encounter with the greedy, ill-behaved priests was awfully hurting. A noisy priest brought his hefty hand on the tender nape of the lone lady devotee company so forcefully that she simply could not even raise her eyes to see what was happening. She was asked to cough out a big amount of money on to the collection plate. Both physical and mental pain at peak, she did the slave job and ensured release. Right then and there did she vow never to come back to the great temple nor recommend friends to ever visit the overhyped shrine. The reputation of the Jagannath Temple today has gone so low!
Now, the Odisha Government has realised, though late, the urgency of fresh reforms to make the temple the preferred shrine to visit among all four Dhams. Incidentally, the Government had in the early Fifties of the last century snatched the basic management rights from the Gajapati monarch only with a view to turning the temple a remarkably devotee-friendly shrine without realising that the grossly-obsolete tradition of hereditary priesthood would cause the most terrible woe to all. No one knows since when and how any male baby born to the Brahmin and Daita clans of the nearly 75 categories of servitors has to be considered a servitor with a share of the revenue in whatever manner collected. As history indicates, the principal Brahmin touch-deity servitors were to get part of the food offerings as their wage or money obtained from sale of the same. The Daita clan without any touch-deity right are only required for a month during sickness and Car Festival outing. But due to television coverage, they projected themselves as the principal servitors and took huge advantage in making money by deceptively posing as ‘Pandas’ or Brahmin servitors who offer touch-deity services and offer sacred food. As time rolled by, the temple became more and more famous and revenue collection also soared. But the principal servitor communities expected to be exclusively at the lords’ service without any other commercial activity made hay at both ends without any scrutiny, primarily because Government officials never studied or sought to know the true tradition.
Unfortunately today, the number of the principal servitors has risen to over 10,000 which is mindboggling and trouble-causing. The age-old practice of serving without self-interest is just not a point to consider. During monarchical times, because priestly services did not fetch comfort-ensuring income, no one volunteered to become a priest from the clans. So the founding monarchs made it obligatory on the priestly class to have their male children step in. But today, the servitors run hotels, shops, construction business, take up Government jobs and do any other things to make money, remaining servitors only when there is revenue to share. They are not dismissed on grounds of ineligibility. Even practising lawyers the world over are disqualified once found to be engaged in any other profit activity fulltime as they can’t concentrate on the main job and cause harm to clients. The terrible hereditary tradition could provoke judges, IAS officers, doctors, scientists and other knowledge, skill-based professionals to have their children considered doctors, scientists and so on from birth by citing Puri servitor status.
The Justice BP Das Commission need not reinvent the wheel. It must look up how the AP Government fixed the priestly system by first abolishing the stupid hereditary rights. The select ones recommended by the families have to take scripture knowledge, skill and behaviour tests to qualify as potential priests to fill in when vacancies occur in the event of retirement or death of serving priests. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister NT Rama Rao did a much saner job by instituting a commission to make a thorough investigation and make appropriate recommendations.
The high priests of all classes that touch the deity are extremely disciplined and do maintain high standards of sacredness, maintain celibacy during their tenure in the temple to perform ‘archana’ and offer worship to the deity. They don’t eat fish, flesh meals. They are provided with two Brahmin assistants of their choice for cooking food, keeping the surrounding clean and following the ‘majhar’ rituals as per prescribed norms.
On March 19, 1996, the Thirumala Temple of lord Venkateshwara, the richest and most-visited shrine in the world, was reformed by the Supreme Court on a petition by the AP Government. The landmark judgment upheld the nullification of the centuries-old trusteeship rights of the temple’s hereditary Mirasi priests. Hindu devotees rejoiced and welcomed the decree as a means to curb rampant corruption by the greedy, machinating high priests. In 1985, after hundreds of public complaints, NT Rama Rao commissioned the Justice Chella Kondiah Committee to recommend measures for devotee-friendly management of temples in AP. The committee advised immediate abolition of hereditary Mirasi rights. Accordingly, the Government promulgated the Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, which annulled all the rights and emoluments in cash or kind to the Mirasis including their share in Prasadam, Hundi or Sevas. The twelve Mirasi families lost a cool seven crore rupees earned without any labour or intellectual input.
The Mirasi priests challenged the Act as a violation of their fundamental rights. Their plea was dismissed in the High Court, and the rejection of their appeal in the apex court brought the curtain down on a decade-long legal battle. The greedy priests lost the battle. The day after the court decree, the main Archaka (priest) reportedly refused to adorn the deity with His invaluable jewels. The main Archaka, authorised to touch the deity, had personally kept guard over the lord’s jewels as a moral imperative. If anything was found missing, he would have to reimburse the temple immediately. After losing the responsibility, he started throwing tantrums, saying he wouldn’t guard over the valuables anymore. The new management cautioned him: He would lose everything if he relinquished responsibility. The Archaka finally surrendered for he realised he would be doomed. Interestingly, one Mirasi family revealed they were not priest class at all. Many Mirasis hired surrogate agents to do their job for a price and pursued bigger profit activities elsewhere. They went hiding to avoid the Press as the truth would annoy the new trust. The masquerading priests gave in and were rehabilitated somehow.
All priests including Archakas, Gamekars and other temple workers can now enter only if they pass the stringent selection process assessing their knowledge of the requisite Shastras including Slokas. Aspirants have to learn either through a guru or elders at home or by attending leading schools imparting Vedic education. The court concluded that the legislature is competent to define qualifications for Archakas and conduct examinations to select the real fit ones. The State was also directed by the court to determine the conditions of service, scale of pay and other emoluments for the selected employees. Virtually, no one missed the greedy priests. Enlightened locals including a leading lawyer said if kings, landlords and mighty Nizams could go, the Zemindari abolished, the greedy Mirasis having been thrown made a great deal of sense. The temple food offering used to be converted into money to fill the pockets of these Mirasis. A big section of workers had welcomed
Prasadam offered in the various Sevas, including the famous laddus, were the privileged duty of the Gamekar Mirasi to prepare. The Mirasi tradition began with only four families, which have gradually expanded and become more than twelve. The families took turns and served at the temple for one year at a time. All this mediaeval period feudal tradition came to an end. Hence, the wealthiest temple in the world is a virtual paradise for the devotee.
But in Puri, the servitor families have grown in thousands. And the so-called priests can hardly recite a holy hymn or explain the Jagannath culture. All that they do is posing in priestly robes when money-fetching events occur. There are even police officials, administrators, corporate managers and professors who turn up to grab the birthright share. No wonder, devotee torture is on the rise because their number is so huge. One member from each family can compete in the tests to qualify for being accepted as priest. The temple will then become a divinely joyful environment for all.
The Justice Das Commission can take inspiration from the Tirupati temple and come up with even better measures to turn the Puri temple paradise by first abolishing the hereditary rights of the priests, who share public wealth in good amounts without making any contribution.
(The writer is a core member of Transparency International, Odisha)