Disabled people's temple entry

Bhubaneswar: The popular Hindu God Lord Jagannath of Puri is a great symbol of people with disability. But ironically, people on wheelchairs have had no access to the Puri Jagannath temple so far.

Human rights activists have appealed to the sevayats in Puri and the Orissa government to follow examples set by some prominent temples in the county, and allow devotees to access the temple on wheelchairs.

Human rights activist Dr Sruti Mohapatra was denied entry twice in the Jagannath Puri temple. She now wants things to change so that many others like her can catch a glimpse of the holy trinity.

"Lord Jagannath symbolises disability. So why bar persons with disability on wheelchairs to enter the temple?" said Dr Mohapatra.

Prominent temples like the Siddhi Vinayak temple and Guruvayur temple do allow people with wheelchairs. Activists who have written to the administration a number of times in this regard wanted to organise a visit of people on wheelchairs to the temple on Gandhi Jayanti. But now they have decided to appeal to the sevayats.

"Before any confrontation a discussion with the sevayats and the pandas will probably smoothen out things better because understandably they might have reservations about the materials in the wheelchairs, cleanliness of wheelchairs. So let them have their own set of wheelchairs and volunteers who will come and help the wheelchair bound persons access into the temple," said Mrinalini Padhi, lawyer, Orissa High Court.

Sevayat leaders have told NDTV they have never objected to the differently-abled being carried into the temple by relatives or volunteers, but are opposed to entry of wheelchairs. Activists now propose to talk to ensure people have a darshan of the Lord on wheelchairs, without having to be carried physically all the way.