SANKAT MOCHAN Temple authorities are now planning to make their own security arrangements around the shrine where a bomb blast claimed several lives on Tuesday evening.
SANKAT MOCHAN Temple authorities are now planning to make their own security arrangements around the shrine where a bomb blast claimed several lives on Tuesday evening.
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The temple authorities would hire private agencies for the job, chief priest Prof Veer Bhadra Mishra told Hindustan Times on Wednesday.
“I am holding discussions with other members of the Sankat Mochan family about the type of measures to be taken,” he said .
He added he would welcome security measures by the State or the Union Government, but would not want the shrine to be converted into a virtual fortress. “I will try to ensure that devotees have a smooth passage.”
Prof Mishra said it was unfortunate that the district magistrate, the senior superintendent of police and the superintendent of police (City) were not present at the site even eight hours after the bomb blast.
He also said no official had contacted him about security arrangements.
Undeterred by the blast, Prof Mishra said the temple’s annual music festival would be held in April.
“People have great faith in Sankat Mochan.
The marriage of 25 to 30 couples is solemnised every day during the marriage season,” he said.
A large number of devotees from across the country daily visited the 400-year-old temple where Goswami Tulsi Das had established the idol of Lord Hanuman, he added.