Bhubaneswar, June 29 -- https://images.odishatv.in/uploadimage/library/16_9/16_9_0/recent_photo_1751199782.webp
A distressed devotee from Madhya Pradesh has accused servitors at the Jagannath Temple in Puri of enabling VIP darshan through direct cash payments, while denying access to ordinary pilgrims.
Ashok Kumar Gupta, the pilgrim who raised the issue, claimed that unless pilgrims are willing to pay, they are turned away from the sanctum. "They (servitors) are demanding money for darshan. VIPs are getting access after paying. We can't afford it, so they are turning us away. This kind of discrimination is not acceptable. I want justice," he said, visibly agitated.
Gupta questioned the moral and spiritual basis of such practices: "What k...