Subhamoy Banerjee, Mumbai, 17 May 2026
Want to witness organized human suffering? Visit the Jagannath temple at Puri during peak hours! Thousands of exhausted Hindu pilgrims stand packed like cattle for 4–5 hours merely for a glimpse of the Lord of the Universe.
The shoe stand has been pushed far away, forcing barefoot devotees — children and the elderly included — to walk nearly a kilometre on scorching, abrasive pavements that peel the skin off their soles. Endless rituals continue while the common pilgrim rots in queues. Earlier, rituals never paralysed regular darshan; now devotion has become hostage to mismanagement and greed.
The excuse of “population pressure” is laughable. Population did not explode overnight! What has truly exploded is VIP culture. Pay extra, pull political strings, secure a “special darshan” pass — and the gates magically open, even during rituals when ordinary devotees are locked outside like unwanted intruders. A pilgrim entering the queue at 5 a.m may enter the temple only around 10:30 a.m.
Then begins the final humiliation — stampede-like chaos, multiple queues crashing into each other, pushing, shoving, gasping for breath. The sanctum of the temple resembles less a holy shrine and more a battlefield where brute force decides who sees the deity. Terrified children are crushed in the crowd. Elderly devotees stagger out physically and mentally shattered. Compassion is absent. Dignity is absent.
The only gods worshipped today are money and greed! Priests and administration together have turned heaven into hell.
