The Daita servitors, known as bodyguards of Shree Jagannath, were in the news again on Sunday for all the wrong reasons.
Eminent Odishi danseuse Ileana Citaristi alleged that she was manhandled and misbehaved with by a Daita servitor while she was offering prayers the lord’s chariot in the morning.
According to her complaint filed with the temple chief administrator, she paid `20 to the servitor and went onto the Nandighosh Rath of Shree Jagannath. While she was on the chariot, servitor Jagannath Dasmahapatra demanded `1,000 from her to allow her to embrace the lord. When she refused to oblige him, he scolded her in filthy language and pushed her several times from the chariot. Italian Citaristi, who has settled in Bhubaneswar, told the media that the lord of the Universe comes out of the temple to allow Darshan to his devotees like her who cannot enter the temple. And this type of behaviour was unwarranted and bad.
A similar incident happened during last year’s Rath Yatra at the Gundicha Temple. Servitors had manhandled a NRI US national on the chariot. The matter is a serious issue even today.
However, president of the Daita servitors’ association Ramakrusna Dasmahapatra condemned the incident and apologised for it. Temple Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee described the incident as unfortunate and sought a report from the commander of the temple.