Hindu Indonesians faced wrath of priests in Jagannath temple

Bhubaneswar (VISAKEO): In a bizarre incident early on Wednesday, three
Hindu Indonesian nationals, who had entered the Jagannath Temple, were
reportedly been driven out of the shrine by the priests and handed
over to police, who later found them to be Hindus. The three,
including two women, were spotted during 'Mangala Aarti', a ritual
performed daily when temple doors open, Police sources said.
Meanwhile, Police verification showed Mahabahu Das, a local ISKCON
devotee, accompanied the Indonesians. Puri Town PS IIC Gyana Ranjan
Mohapatra, who was earlier IIC of Chandrasekharpur PS here, said the
three were later found to be Hindus and were released after they
produced their travel documents. The foreigners were identified as I
Gusti Made Krisiasis, Adraina Ash and I Made Arjana and are part of a
15-member team from that country on a trip organised by ISKCON.
Non-Hindus, even ISKCON devotees are not allowed to enter the 12th
century shrine and a board at the main gate of the temple says only
"Hindus are allowed entry inside". President of Sri Jagannath Seva
Samilanee (a body of priests) Damodar Mahasuara said all ISKCON
devotees mention Hinduism as their religion in their passports and
demanded proper verification of foreigners when they come to the
temple. However, such attitudes of Temple Priests have been directly
affecting the image of the pilgrimage city of Puri. Recently, the
priests of the Temple priests had extorted money from a Chennai-based
Bharatnatyam dancer Joytsna Jagannathan, who visited the 12th century
shrine in the second week of October. "The dancer, who had then
alleged that she was forced to pay money by a section of priests and
harassed.