Davis, seemingly mentally deranged, was found to have been inside the temple for five days, so the temple conducts remedial rituals in six and a half hours.
Don Sebastian
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The famed Sree Krishna temple in Guruvayur on Saturday repeated pujas it did during the last five days after it found that a non-Hindu had been present in the temple.
After discovering on Friday evening that a non-Hindu was present during the five days, the temple authorities repeated all the 15 poojas that were conducted during that time in a marathon six and a half hour exercise on Saturday.
At Guruvayur, a Davis from Kuttimukku near Thrissur gave away his identity when questioned by temple warders. Apparently mentally deranged, he made a commotion in the temple when he jumped the queue for the palpayasam, the temple’s prasadam.
“Since he admitted he was a non-Hindu, we had to abide by the rituals. We handed him over to the police and they released him soon after that. He was neither fined nor charged with any offence,” Guruvayur devaswom deputy administrator PV Subramanian said on Saturday.
The remedial rituals, however, cost the devaswom some extra money. “Normally we use ghee worth Rs 1,000-1,200 for a puja. If the offending party can pay up, we retrieve the money from him. But we never insist on that since there is no dearth of money,” he said. Three pujas and three seevelis are performed every day.
Davis might have been brought to the temple by some friend or relative and he stayed on because free food is provided in the temple.
“We give each devotee one litre payasam everyday. In the morning we give neypayasam. Plus there is food twice a day,” Subramanian said. Davis, donning sandal paste and kumkum on his forehead, mingled with the crowd for four days.
The deputy administrator said it is difficult to enforce the unwritten rule barring non-Hindus inside the temple. “We have put up boards at the limit from where non-Hindus are barred. But you never know. Sometimes touring students come for darshan and all of them may not be Hindus. Then, if detected, we just spray punyaham (holy water) inside the temple. But this time a non-Hindu stayed inside the temple for five days,” he said.
The Sree Krishna temple, one of the busiest and richest in Kerala, strictly goes by unwritten customs. It was in the news a few years ago when the authorities held “purification ceremonies” after the son of Congress leaders Vayalar Ravi and Mercy, a Christian, entered the temple during his wedding.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}