Thai Princess was refused entry into the Lord Jagannath Temple

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Thai Princess Maha Chakri Siridharon who was recently on a visit to India to receive the Indira Gandhi Award visited Puri in Orissa to have the darshans of Lord Jagannath. She was refused entry into the Lord Jagannath Temple on the ground that she was not a Hindu.
The specious reason given for denial of entry to as honourable a guest as Princess Sridharon, betrays gross ignorance of the temple management of the age-old fusion of Hinduism and Buddhism as presently represented by Thailand. Incidentally, this is the third incident of refusal of entry into Hindu temples in the last few days.
The first one relates to refusal of entry to an American convert to Hinduism who along with her husband, a Hindu of Indian origin went to pray at the ancient Lingaraj temple in Orissa. The second one relates to the entry of a foreigner into Guruvayur Temple in Kerala. The entire pooja of the day was repeated to purify the temple after it was discovered that a foreigner was present at the time of the earlier pooja.
Certain misconceptions need to be clarified. Yes, Buddhism is the state religion of Thailand and the Princess Maha Chakri herself is a devout Buddhist. However, all those who know about Thailand or have visited Thailand are struck by the similarities of the Hindu and Thai Buddhist religious practices. Thanks to the efforts of the Hindu merchants and voyagers, the influence of Hinduism in Thailand is all-pervasive and unmistakable.
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