With temples shut and no donations, priests demand assistance from Odisha government
BALANGIR/SAMBALPUR: Priests of temples managed by the endowment department in Balangir district and the 16th century Samaleswari Temple in Sambalpur district have demanded immediate financial assistance from the state government as they have lost their livelihood with the temples being shut for last one month due to the lockdown.
“We have no source of income other than the ‘dakshina’ offered by devotees coming to the temples every day. We have already exhausted our meagre savings to feed family members during the lockdown. If the government does not announce a package for us then our life will be miserable,” said Mahendra Dishri, head priest, Samaleswari Temple in Balangir.
Premalata Das, who has been serving as a priest in Gopaljee Temple for last five years after her husband, who was the chief priest, passed away, is spending life in distress. She said the corona pandemic along with uncertainty over lockdown has become a nightmare for her. “It is difficult for a single parent like me to manage daily expenditure of three family members,” she said.
According to the priests, the endowment department provides Rs 2,700 a month to utilise it in ritual-related activities and another Rs 300 for the sweeper to clean the temple premises.
The department doesn’t spend a single penny towards priests’ personal or family expenditure. Even all major renovation works in a temple are executed from the donations given by the devotees, said a priest.
A priest earns Rs 200 to Rs 500 a day and more during auspicious days when devotees throng the temple in large numbers. Priests manage food, education and medical expenditure from the dakshina only.
The endowment department is earning huge money by utilising the temple premises for commercial purposes. “Despite having ample funds, the department is apathetic towards the development of the temples as well as taking welfare measures for servitors,” said Malaya Dishri, priest, Patneswari Temple.
Similarly, the 12 priests of Samaleswari Temple in Sambalpur have demanded financial assistance. Though there is a shutdown, the priests are allowed to enter the temple on a rotational basis and perform the deity’s daily rituals, said head priest Ambika Prasad Rai.
He said the temple trust board decided that the priest would be given Rs 1,000 to perfrom the daily rituals but the amount is not sufficient. “The priest, who performs the daily ritual, has to buy the puja materials, including sari, rice, dal, vegetable, ghee, sandal, flowers and other material for the deity from the Rs 1,000, the temple trust board gives him. They are being forced to spend from their pockets,” he said.
-
Download
-
Subscribe
Start Your Daily Mornings with Times of India Newspaper! Order Now