The authorities running the Jagannath Temple of Puri may need a Pied Piper to rid it of rodents that have infested the 12th-century shrine.
The rodents, whose numbers increased manifold during the absence of devotees in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been nibbling away at the attires of the gods - Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra - in the shrine.
The servitors and priests have voiced fears that the rodents may damage the wooden idols of the deities, though temple administrator Jitendra Sahoo feels there is no need to take fright.
"There were few rodents in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple but their number increased significantly after the COVID-19 pandemic," Ramachandra Dasmohapatra, a servitor, said.
The rodents also create a disturbance when the priests perform rituals, said Satyanarayan Puspalak, representing the group of servitors who decorate the deities with garlands.
"The rats devour the flowers offered to the deities and nibble away at the valuable attires of the gods," Pushpalak said.