Mahakal temple priests fume over HC directive

UJJAIN: High court's directive to appoint salaried priests at Jyotirlinga Mahakaleshwar temple here has not gone down well with the temple priests (pujaris). They are now planning to move a higher court.
Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh high court had on Wednesday directed the temple management to amend the temple Act that traditionally offers 35% share of offerings including the collection at the donation boxes to the priests of the temple.Housing one of the 12 jyotirlingas, the temple is one of the prominent temples in the country and receives huge donations. In the last fiscal alone, Rs 1.25 crore was collected from the donation boxes and the 16 priests received Rs 2.73 lakh each.
The court directives have come after one Sarika Guru filed a petition before the HC seeking revocation of the system. The petitioner observed that the priests are not partners and hence should only be given salary or honorarium.
Though none of the priests was ready to speak on record, most feel that the present system of percentage sharing is a long standing tradition adhering to the Mahakaleshwar Temple Act 1953. "Each priest has to share the amount he gets with his 2-3 representatives. The money that the priests received was quite less in the past and has increased only in the recent times," argued one of the priests.
Government priest representative Ashish Pujari said that the priests would challenge the verdict. "The option to move for appeal is open for the government," he added.