Puri: Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Sunday lodged a complaint with the police here against a Bangladesh national who allegedly posted a video of the temple’s ‘garba gruha’ (sanctum santorum) on social media.
The matter came to light Saturday after the video went viral on social media.
The alleged offender has been identified as Akash Choudhury, who claimed to be an ISKCON devotee and a YouTuber.
“We have lodged an FIR against the Bangladeshi national at Singhadwar police station,” SJTA administrator (security) V S Chandrasekhar Rao told reporters.
As mobile phones and cameras are strictly prohibited inside the 12th-century temple premises questions were raised about how the Bangladeshi national could take the electronic gadgets to the temple and go unnoticed despite the presence of a number of security personnel.
It appeared that the video was recorded from the Jaya-Bijaya Dwara of the temple as it captured the idols of the deities on the Ratna Singhasana (literally meaning the jewelled throne) in the sanctum sanctorum.
It also appeared that the video was recorded before the Bada Singhara Besha (costume associated with bedtime and relates to the sleep of the deities, a servitor said.
“It is not a security lapse, but we will certainly upgrade the security arrangement,” Rao said.
The Bangladeshi youth has violated provisions under IT Act and Shree Jagannath Temple Act, he added.
The video has since been deleted, police sources said adding that the accused had written a caption of his video in Bengali language.
Bhagirathi Dash, a servitor of the temple, has demanded strong action against the offender and blamed the administration for the lapse.
A photo of the sanctum sanctorum surfaced on social media and gone viral in 2017 too.
PTI
