Controversy at temple over serving prasadam on a table
AGRA: Serving of ‘ prasadam’ to officials on a table in the renowned Bankey Behari Temple has raked up a controversy. The management committee of the temple has decided to issue show cause notice to two Goswamis who arranged this despite ban on such activities in the temple.
On Tuesday night, t wo Sewayat Goswamis, Jugal Kishor Goswami and Anand Kishore Goswami, arranged tables and chairs for officials to partake of prasadam on the temple premises. For others, arrangement was made on the ground.
CCTV footage showed both DM and SSP of Mathura, each sitting at a table having prasadam. It was said chief secretary Alok Ranjan was also there, but he was not seen. This was considered as violation of orders passed by the judicial court in Mathura in 2014 when such activities of preparing and serving food on the temple premises were banned.
The head of the management committee of Bankey Behari Mandir in Vrindavan, Muneesh Sharma, gave a clean chit to officials, as they were not aware of the restriction. “However, the two Goswamis knew about the court order and should not have deliberately violated the norms. On the basis of CCTV footage, notices are being served on them for violation of norms,” Sharma told Hindustan Times on Thursday.
“Mathura court issued an order in 2004 whereby any dinner or prasadam was not to be served in the temple premises,” added the manager.
DM Mathura Rajesh Kumar ter med the controversy an outcome of group conflicts between Goswamis at the temple. “The orders as revealed now were never made public by the management committee and remained confined to files, “he told HT on Thursday.
‘As far as I know, , these restrictions are regarding the ‘chabutra’ in front of idols and ‘aangan’ (courtyard) while the ‘prasadam’ was served in the backyard,” said the DM.
“Otherwise also, the ‘prasadam’ is offered inside the temple and one accepts it. The devotees cannot be blamed, the management committee should ensure that ‘prasadam’ is served at a proper place,” he said.