Bada Osha: Devotees break open Dhabaleswar temple door for Darshan amid strike by priests

Cuttack: Amid a strike by the priests of Baba Dhabaleswar Temple in Odisha’s Cuttack district, a large number of devotees broke open the shrine door for darshan of the Lord by themselves on Saturday morning on the occasion of Bada Osha.

As in the past, thousands of devotees thronged the famous Shiva shrine in Athagarh to offer prayers and seek the blessings of the Lord.

However, a stand-off between the servitors and the district administration had deprived the devotees of having darshan in the temple since Friday. The servitors locked up the temple since Friday morning, sources said.

The impasse continued as there was no headway despite several rounds of talks between the servitors and the administration. The servitors kept the door closed even on Bada Osha.

The devotees who were waiting since Friday to enter the temple found the door shut on Saturday morning too. They lost patience and reportedly broke open the door to enter the shrine, sources said.

It may be noted here that the servitors were angry over alleged auction of two cycle stands near the temple and the putting up of barricades from the suspension bridge to the temple which hindered devotees from handing over donations to the servitors.

They alleged that while there was no barricade throughout the Kartik month, the administration suddenly put up a barricade during Panchuka from the new bridge to the temple. Due to the move, devotees were no longer able to offer bhog or dakshina (donation) to the priests.

They further claimed that the district administration allegedly auctioned two more cycle stands arbitrarily after the temple priest committee had auctioned the stand. It caused heavy loss to them.