During President Ram Nath Kovind’s visit to the Shree Jagannath Temple here on Sunday, a section of the servitors reportedly expressed displeasure over the restriction to have interaction with him.
The servitors even alleged that they were not paid Dakshina (traditional tips) by the President for services as part of rituals and tradition after offering prayer to the deities.
However, the temple administration clarified that there was no schedule made for interaction of servitors with the President.
In view of the President’s visit, the temple administration had closed the public darshan of the deities for two hours from 6.30 am to 8.30 am. Kovind entered the shrine at around 7.30 am and came out at about 8.20 am.
Temple record says Kovind’s father had also visited the Shreemandir in October 1947.
Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator Pradeep Kumar Jena, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, servitor Krushna Chandra Gochhikar and other servitors welcomed the President and his wife Savita Kovind and accompanied the couple during their temple visit.
The district administration had beefed up the security during the President’s visit from Saturday. The road between the Circuit House, where Kovind stayed overnight, and the Sea Beach police station was sealed.