Sehore (Madhya Pradesh): Priest of the Kubereshwar Dham temple, Pradeep Mishra, is singing a different tune after the mismanagement which led to the death of three persons during a seven-day religious event.
The event began from Thursday when nearly 20 lakh devotees reached the spot to get Rudrakshas, but it caused a massive traffic gridlock on the Bhopal-Indore highway, so he had to stop the Rudraksha distribution.
Afterwards, many devotees had to return home without a Rudraksha. They alleged that the temple committee failed to make proper arrangements for the devotees, although they invited lakhs of people from different parts of the country to the religious event.
Now that he has faced criticism from all corners for gathering such a large number people, Mishra has vowed to organise a ceremony grander than the one he has already organised.
According to the district administration, more than 20 lakh people flocked to the temple to collect Rudrakshas and to listen to the Shivmahapuran Katha.
Nevertheless, the devotees had to face a lot of inconvenience because of lack proper arrangements, including food and drinking water.
On the other hand, Mishra told media persons that he would organise a religious function that would be bigger than the one has organised this year.
In trying to tarnish the image of Hinduism, a few criminals created a chaotic situation which led to mismanagement on the temple premises. As a result, he had to stop distribution of Rudrakshas.
The district officials have also collared some hate-mongers, who were trying to mislead the devotees, Mishra said.
Superintendent of police (SP) of Sehore, Mayank Awasthi, said 20 lakh people had arrived at Kubereshwardham.
On the other hand, the temple committee claimed that only one to 1.5 lakh people arrived at the function daily.
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