Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Jun 15: Among the religious community, there has been a general disagreement over the contrasting stance the government has owned relating to allowing people to enter temples. As per the government rules, people aged over 65 cannot enter temples. At the same time, most of the priests offering puja and other services at these temples are in this age group.

The devotees wonder why they cannot be allowed into the temples if priests who are elder to them are allowed. They wonder whether the government feels that priests do not get infected by diseases.

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Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses allow aged people to use their buses for travel. The people aged over 65 keep going here and there including markets, hotels etc. But they are barred from visiting temples. Most of the regular visitors to temples fall in this age group. Therefore, the visitors to the temples have therefore been meagre. As a consequence, there is a demand to remove this restriction.

General secretary of All India Hindu Temples Archaks Agamikas and Upadhivasanthas Association, K S N Dixit, pointed out that aged people are barred from visiting the temples and services like Mangalarathi, special Puja, Archane etc are not allowed. Therefore, the priests go without any income, he stated.

The state has about 35,000 temples under the muzrai department and about 80,000 people function in them as priests and assistants. Among them, nearly 20,000 are aged. There are over a lac private temples where thousands of priests aged over 65 function. They have been offering minimum puja services in these temples now.

Muzrai minister Kota Srinivas Poojary, has clarified that the above rule has been enforced as generally people above 65 lack enough immunity against diseases and therefore, the aged people are advised to exercise self-restraint and stay at home in their own interests. He said that this rule applies not only to devotees but also to priests. He added that as far as possible this provision has to be abided with.