Priests involved in Lord Krishna dress controversy suspended
VIJAY UPADHYAY
Agra. Following a public outrage in the entire country over the dressing up of the idol of Lord Krishna in blue Jeans and T-shirt at the Bihariji temple in Vrindavan near Mathura, the priests guilty of dressing-up the deity were suspended from temple service for three days by the Mathura court after they offered a public apology on Sunday, claiming that the 'mistake' was not deliberate but part of the Lord's 'Lila'.
Earlier, a clash between the temple priests and devotees sparked fresh tension in Mathura on Monday, when the priests and Krishna devotees clashed at the Bihariji temple following a demonstration inside the temple by some devotees who even burned effigies of the priests.
While the situation could only be controlled after the police entered the temple premises and separated the clashing parties, there were a number of demonstrations elsewhere in Mathura, with the devotees demanding the arrest of both the priests for their crime to hurting religious sentiments of millions of Indians.
In an interesting development on Sunday, Anand Kishore Goswami, the priest who had till recently denied having any hand in dressing Lord Krishna with jeans, T-shirt and mobile phone, acknowledged before the media that he and the other priest Jugal Kishore Goswami had dressed Lord Krishna in the modern outfit instead of the traditional 'Jama-Patka'.
He claimed that though he realised that the sentiments of the devotees had been hurt by this 'mistake', it was not deliberate and only a part of Lord Krishna's 'Lila' but still, he was apologising to the devotees for having made this mistake, although inadvertently.
But according to Girish Goswami, one of the priests at the temple, this roundabout apology by the priest hardly went down the throats of the devotees, who stormed into the Bihariji temple premises on Monday and burned the effigies of the priests, demanding their removal from temple service.
Upon seeing some of the devotees destroying religious symbols alongwith the burning effigies, the temple priests too, clashed with the mob of Krishna devotees and tried to snatch away the religious symbols from them, which further angered the mob and watching the law and order situation deteriorating, the police force present outside had to enter the temple premises and diffuse the tension.
Later, on Monday, hearing a petition filed by the devotees, Mathura Civil Judge (JD) Rashmi Nanda, who is also the administrator of the temple found both Anand Kishore and Jugal Kishore Goswami guilty of the impious act and suspended them from temple service for three days, after which, the hearing on the petition shall continue.
Agra. Following a public outrage in the entire country over the dressing up of the idol of Lord Krishna in blue Jeans and T-shirt at the Bihariji temple in Vrindavan near Mathura, the priests guilty of dressing-up the deity were suspended from temple service for three days by the Mathura court after they offered a public apology on Sunday, claiming that the 'mistake' was not deliberate but part of the Lord's 'Lila'.
Earlier, a clash between the temple priests and devotees sparked fresh tension in Mathura on Monday, when the priests and Krishna devotees clashed at the Bihariji temple following a demonstration inside the temple by some devotees who even burned effigies of the priests.
While the situation could only be controlled after the police entered the temple premises and separated the clashing parties, there were a number of demonstrations elsewhere in Mathura, with the devotees demanding the arrest of both the priests for their crime to hurting religious sentiments of millions of Indians.
In an interesting development on Sunday, Anand Kishore Goswami, the priest who had till recently denied having any hand in dressing Lord Krishna with jeans, T-shirt and mobile phone, acknowledged before the media that he and the other priest Jugal Kishore Goswami had dressed Lord Krishna in the modern outfit instead of the traditional 'Jama-Patka'.
He claimed that though he realised that the sentiments of the devotees had been hurt by this 'mistake', it was not deliberate and only a part of Lord Krishna's 'Lila' but still, he was apologising to the devotees for having made this mistake, although inadvertently.
But according to Girish Goswami, one of the priests at the temple, this roundabout apology by the priest hardly went down the throats of the devotees, who stormed into the Bihariji temple premises on Monday and burned the effigies of the priests, demanding their removal from temple service.
Upon seeing some of the devotees destroying religious symbols alongwith the burning effigies, the temple priests too, clashed with the mob of Krishna devotees and tried to snatch away the religious symbols from them, which further angered the mob and watching the law and order situation deteriorating, the police force present outside had to enter the temple premises and diffuse the tension.
Later, on Monday, hearing a petition filed by the devotees, Mathura Civil Judge (JD) Rashmi Nanda, who is also the administrator of the temple found both Anand Kishore and Jugal Kishore Goswami guilty of the impious act and suspended them from temple service for three days, after which, the hearing on the petition shall continue.
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