Kamal Ghorui
SURI: A flex put up at the entrance of Kankalitala temple in Bolpur on Monday evening declares only Hindus would be allowed to offer puja at the shrine, one of Birbhum’s five Shakti Peethas.According to local residents, the banner was installed by unidentified youths claiming affiliation to “Sanatan Paksha”.“We have neither removed the banner nor endorsed it,” said temple priest Baidyanath Chakraborty.
“No one is prohibited from entering the temple compound, but usually Hindus offer puja before the deity,” the priest said.Pulak Chatterjee, senior priest of Tarapith temple, another major shrine in Birbhum, said there is no restriction or verification process for devotees there. He said several non-Hindu VIPs have visited the temple and paid tribute in the past without controversy, underlining how such exclusionary messaging is at odds with Bengal’s temple traditions.BJP’s local unit denied any involvement. Shyamapada Mondal, president of BJP’s Bolpur unit, said he had no information about the flex. “We don’t want to impose any new regulation for any place of worship. A temple should be run by the temple authority,” he said.
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