Devotees of Rameswaram Temple stage protest against commercialisation

Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu), July 31 : Devotees of Rameswaram Ramanathaswamy Temple staged a protest against the Joint Commissioner on Monday alleging that he is taking away the rights of the devotees and turning the temple into a commercial enterprise.
People in Rameswaram spontaneously joined the protest and staged a complete blockade on Monday. Shops and commercial establishments volunteered to participate in the complete blockade and closed their shops. This has affected normal life in the city.
Devotees organised a complete shutdown protest demanding the transfer of the Joint Commissioner. They alleged that the Rameswaram Ramanathaswamy temple has changed the traditional practices and emphasizes only on revenue.
The devotees also alleged that there are no basic facilities like free accommodation, drinking water and toilets have been provided to the pilgrims who come to the temple.
On the contrary, they said that barricades have been set up in Praharams giving priority to fee-based darshan. The local public, senior citizens and differently-abled people are not able to have darshan without difficulty, they alleged.
They also accused the temple administration of shifting the place of worship to Ganga Theertha brought by the pilgrims from Kashi and charges 200 rupees for darshan of Spatikalinga.
The public and political parties have been holding protests like picketing, blockade and demonstration against these recent steps.