Mumbai : Devasthan of Shani Shingnapur has not been treating men or women devotees differently for having ‘darshan’ of Shanidev. Everyone should have ‘darshan’ of Shanidev from below the temple-sanctum is the rule made by trustees of this Devasthan. ‘Bhoomata Brigade’s President Trupti Desai adamant of climbing the temple-sanctum and breaking this rule, had contested election of Pune Municipal Corporation as the candidate of Congress in 2012. On 26th January, as police took her into custody, activists of this Brigade had raised slogans acclaiming Congress. On the Facebook account of Trupti Desai, there are her photos being felicitated by Congress leaders. There are also her photos in which she has participated in AAP’s programs; therefore, Trupti Desai is not a devotee. She is undertaking such drives against Hindu Dharma only for her political gains. She has deceived everyone through this drive; but her political face and motive has been exposed. She has staged such agitation only out of her political interests.
The Chief Minister should not therefore, fall prey to this conspiracy of Congress for destroying religious traditions and take initiative in preserving age-old traditions which followed by the local residents. Debates were started by media on this issue and they started questioning Saints – Mahants about their stand without giving them proper information about the rules and traditions formulated by Devasthan. It is a despicable attempt of misleading Saints- Mahants, states Shri. Sunil Ghanavat, Maharashtra State Coordinator of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) in its press release.
It is also stated in the press release that – for knowing any issue related to field of religion, it is proper to take opinion of knowledgeable Saints in this field. An expert from medical field does not give opinion on fields of expertise of persons from his profession; similar rule should be followed even in the field of religion. The issue of performing ‘puja’ of Shri Shanidev and having ‘darshan’ keeping a distance from sanctum is related to ritualistic worship and before interfering in the tradition followed for so many years, it is necessary to seek opinion or guidance of an authority in this field. The history of temple and traditions followed here are 500 years old and as per ritualistic worship of God. Congress Government has never paid attention to Hindus’ interests; therefore, Hindus ousted Congress from power. It is not expected of BJP Government elected to power due to votes of Hindus, who are majority in this country, to take one-sided decisions. The Government should not therefore, get intimidated under the pressure of so-called devotees like Trupti Desai and take decision considering faith of devotees from Shani Shingnapur.
For preserving sanctity of a ‘swayambhu’ idol, nobody should be allowed except ‘sevekaris’ ! – Mahant Narendra Giri Maharaj, President, ‘Aakhara Parishad’
There is ‘Swayambhu’ idol of Shanidev made of stone. Other than ‘sevekaris’, nobody should be allowed to touch the stone-idol for maintaining sanctity of this place. It is proper to follow such rule in respect of idols of any Deities and entry in the sanctum sanctorum of temples. It has nothing to do with men or women. I am at Prayagraj (Allahabad) in Uttar Pradesh. There are representatives of few news channels. They wrongly asked me about women’s entry in temples instead of entry on temple-sanctum and published my statement associating it with Shani-Shinganapur. (It shows how news channels are misleading others and insincere in their duty. People need to think now whether to believe such news channels ! – Editor, Dainik Sanatan Prabhat) I had said that there should be no differentiation in allowing women in temples and it was related to entry on the temple-sanctum of Shanidev. I am going to call those news channel representatives and ask them for explanation, clarified Mahant Narendra Giri Maharaj, President of ‘Aakhaadaa Parishada’ when Shri. Sunil Ghanavat, State Coordinator of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti explained to him about traditions and facts of Shani-Shinganapur issue.
