80 priests in the holy town of Pushkar have lost their right to perform Pujas for pilgrims at the lake of Pushkar as the local priest community declared them “outsiders”. “They do not belong to Pushkar. Of course, they are our relatives, but they have no right to practice here as priest,” says Shri Teerth Pushkar Purohit Trust president Laaduram Parashar.
According to the trust, it has 850 priests registered with it and all belong to Parashar Gotra (Linage) of brahmins while a small section of priests come from Joshi and Sandhya gotra. “Those who came in the last 50 years in Pushkar and got settled here have no right to perform as priest,” says Mr Parashar. The priests took out a procession last week in Pushkar and demanded action against the new priests.
“Such new priests are our relatives, they are either sons of our sisters or brothers, but as per traditions, they have no right to work as priests,” says youth wing president of the priest community, Govind Parashar.
The Parashar Gotra priests claim that they are progeny of Sage Ved Vyas and performing duties as priest for centuries. We have heredity as priest, say Parashar. As a mark of hereditary, the priests have been maintaining books detailing about pilgrims whom they helped in performing puja.