Huge controversy has erupted after an alleged forcible attempt by the ‘queen mother dowager’ of the erstwhile Panna royal family to perform rituals during Jansmashtami celebrations at the famous Jugalkishore temple in Panna on Thursday midnight.
Jiteshwari Kumari, wife of late ‘king’ Raghavendra Singh Judeo of erstwhile Panna royal family was evicted from the temple in Panna city after the priests and devotees present on the occasion objected to her entering the sanctum sanctorum, waving the traditional fan and trying to perform aarti of Lord Krishna on occasion of Janmashtami.
Kumari has been arrested and sent to jail by the Panna police for hurting religious sentiments based on a complaint by the temple administration and for obstructing public servants from official duty as she got into a scuffle with police women in the process of eviction.
A section of media, quoting the main priest of the temple Deviprasad Dikshit, reported that Jiteshwari Kumari’s action was objected to because she was a woman and also a widow and it was against tradition for her to enter the sanctum sanctorum, to wave the fan or to perform aarti. In its complaint to the police, the temple administration also alleged that Kumari was inebriated at the time of the incident.
The current head of the erstwhile royal family and son of Kumari, 17-year-old ‘Maharaja’ Chhatrasal II (Mahendra Chhatrasal Judeo), however told THE WEEK that the incident occurred because he was stopped by the administration from entering the temple, although it is a 300-year-old tradition for the head of the royal family to perform the opening rituals of Janmashtami celebrations. He said it was a conspiracy to take away the rights of his family at the behest of the local minister (Brijendra Pratap Singh of BJP).
“I had reached the temple gate with my associates at around 11.30 pm and had gotten down from my vehicle, but the police present there told me that they had instructions from the higher-ups not to let me enter. We tried to convince them for quite some time and later reached the back entry of the temple too after entering the campus, but I was still not allowed to enter the main temple. When the news reached my mother, she came to the temple and entered it and started performing the rituals saying that the rituals could not start without the royal family members. She has never performed the rituals earlier so she might not know the exact rules. But she was forcibly evicted,” Chhatrasal told THE WEEK over phone.
He shared a video with THE WEEK where he is seen in the temple campus with his mother, apparently trying to enter the main temple. The temple administration had claimed that the Janmashtami rituals were started without royal family members as Chhatrasal had not reached there on time.
As for traditions of a widow not being allowed to perform rituals, he said that the incident was more about a conspiracy rather than traditions as if he (Chhatrasal) was allowed to enter and start the rituals in the first place, nothing would have happened.
Chhatrasal also said that if it was about traditions, then they were actually broken on September 5 on occasion of Baldauji Janmotsava (birth celebrations of Lord Balram, elder brother of Lord Krishna), when the minister (Singh) was allowed to wave the fan at the Lord along with him (Chhatrasal). “Two persons cannot wave the fan at the Lord on such important occasions and it is only the right of the head of the royal family, but the tradition was broken,” he said.
As for his mother being inebriated, he said that it was a wrong allegation meant to defame her and if it was so then the police should have conducted a medical test on the night of the incident. But the test was done the next morning and the result was not out yet. Jiteshwari Kumari herself made the same point to the media on her way to jail on Friday. She also apologized ‘if sentiments of devotees were hurt by her behaviour,’ but said that nothing big had happened at the temple.
Chhatrasal further alleged that the conspiracy against his mother and him was being hatched probably at the behest of other members of the royal family whom the minister was likely supporting. "Why is the minister harassing a 17-year-old boy and his mother when she has made clear she does not want to fight elections and I am a minor. He should concentrate on his ministerial work."
Jiteshwari Kumari has been in a legal battle with her mother-in-law Dilhar Kumari on property issues for the past two decades. She was jailed in 2021 too on the complaint of Dilhar Kumari for allegedly attacking her by entering her area in the palace of the family.
The trigger of controversy this time seems to be the incident of September 5 as Jiteshwari Kumari had written to the temple administration taking objection to two “chanwars (fans) being taken out and waved” during the Baldauji Janmotsava celebrations. She mentioned in the letter that the head of the royal family waves a fan to the Lord by taking responsibility of the entire subject including their sins and for their welfare, and others cannot be allowed to do so. She urged the temple administration to “maintain the dignity of the chanwar and ensure that traditions were not broken”.
The minister Brijendra Pratap Singh however denied any role in the Janmashtami incident saying that he was not present on the spot and had given no instruction whatsoever regarding the royal family members to anyone. “It is a tradition for the head of the royal family to conduct rituals, but she (Jiteshwari Kumari) tried to do things against the traditions and misbehaved due to which the devotees were enraged and this led to police action. I have nothing to do with it. I was sleeping at home at the time,” he told THE WEEK over phone.
He also downplayed the widow angle to the incident, saying that the main issue was misbehavior of Kumari inside the temple. As for allegations of breaking of traditions during Baldauji Janmotsava, Singh said that fans are waved by common devotees too and he was one among them. There was nothing big about the matter.
THE WEEK could not contact Panna superintendent of police (SP) Sai Krishna Thota despite repeated attempts through calls and a text message.
