Row over Shrikant Shinde entering Ujjain Mahakal’s sanctum sanctorum despite ban

The opposition Congress took a strong objection, saying while common citizens have to wait in queues for hours to take ‘darshan’ of the deity, VIPs were allowed entry into the sanctum sanctorum despite a ban.

Shinde, who represents the Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra’s Thane district, entered the ‘garbha griha’ (sanctum sanctorum) along with his wife and two others to worship the deity on Thursday evening, the temple sources said.

However, a controversy erupted over it as soon as a video of the incident went viral since entry of devotees into the sanctum sanctorum has been banned for nearly a year, they said.

The Mahakaleshwar temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is one of the 12 ‘jyotirlinga’ temples in the country and attracts a large number of devotees throughout the year.

Expressing displeasure over the episode, Congress MLA Mahesh Parmar on Friday said, “While a common devotee has to stand in long queues and wait for hours for the darshan of Lord Mahakaleshwar, the VIPs were allowed to enter the garbha griha despite a ban on entering it.” “This is against rules and we strongly oppose it,” he told reporters.

Chairman of the temple committee and Ujjain district collector Neeraj Kumar Singh said, “Nobody is allowed to enter the garbha griha. This (Shinde’s) is an unauthorised entry and I have directed the temple administrator to take immediate action in this matter.” Administrator of the temple, Ganesh Dhakad, said a probe has been ordered and action will be taken against the inspector responsible for overseeing entry and other aspects of the sanctum sanctorum, as well as against others in this matter.