CURATED BY – SHREE NIWAS MISHRA | CITYCHIEFNEWS

After Ujjain Mahakaleshwar of Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga is the fourth Jyotirlinga of the country. Omkareshwar is situated in Mandhata of Indore Khandwa region of Madhya Pradesh and on Omkar mountain in the middle of Narmada river. After Mahakaleshwar, Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga is the second Jyotirlinga of the state. After visiting Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga, Shiva devotees come to visit Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga. The security of the temple premises has been handed over to a trust run by the temple administration. But many questions arise on the administrative system of the temple regarding the tampering with the faith of the devotees. There are two types of Darshan arrangements for the devotees, the first arrangement is free, in which everyone has to stand in a chaotic line for hours, and the one who gets Darshan with great difficulty, will hardly ever think of coming here again or advise anyone to come here. And the second and most important VIP arrangement is the looting and plundering going on in the temple premises with the connivance of the administrative staff and the priests regarding the fee fixed by the temple administration. It is hardly seen in any other religious place. It is said that the priests present there disorganize the crowd of devotees standing in the line by advising the devotees not to stand in the line and to get the Darshan in just a few moments, and take the people up and deposit the VIP fee and it is mandatory to give Dakshina to the Panda for taking the VIP Darshan inside the temple. Due to which, along with the income of the temple, it has become a den of looting for the priests. Which is a matter of infamy for a holy place like Jyotirlinga. When our journalist discussed with the local people and temple administration about the inconvenience caused by this VIP Darshan, it was told that this VIP Darshan system was stopped many times by the administrative officials, but due to the income of the trust run by this VIP system and the illegal income of the priests being blocked, there is collusion between the temple administration and the Panda priests in the name of VIP Darshan. Which is a matter of playing with the faith of lakhs of devotees coming to Omkareshwar temple. If the Madhya Pradesh government does not take any concrete steps regarding the Darshan system at a holy place like Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga, then in the coming times, the pilgrimage of 12 Jyotirlingas of the country will be limited to only Baba Mahakal Ujjain, out of the two famous Jyotirlinga places of the state.