The one constant claim made by viral ideas is that beggars are not penniless and instead have many lakhs hidden away that they have amassed via begging. This 20-year-old woman from Odisha, who contributed the one lakh rupees she had earned by panhandling in front of the Jagannath Temple in Phulbani, proved the validity of this notion.
In-Depth about Beggar in Odisha donates ₹1 lakh to Jagannath Temple:
According to reports, Tula Behera has been panhandling in front of the Jagannatha Temple in Phulbani, Odisha, for around twenty years now. Behera, a widow who lives in Phulbani town, gave Sunasir Mohapatra, the head of the Phulbani Jagannath Temple Management Committee, the money she had amassed.
“I owe Jagannath, the Lord of the Universe, my life and my ability to survive. I’m on the home stretch of my life. I didn’t know what I would do with the money, so I offered it all to God, according to Behera, as reported by the Hindustan Times.
Behera is a native of Cuttack. She married Prafulla Behera and has been a resident of Phulbani ever since. According to the account, Prafulla passed away a few years after their marriage.
Tula worked in menial jobs for a while after that, but eventually, her health suffered from a lack of food, forcing her to beg in order to survive.
She had a post office account where she used to put the alms money. She made the decision to give the money to the temple after learning from the post office that her savings had reached one lakh rupees.
Sunasir Mohapatra, the president of the Temple Management Committee, claimed that he was hesitant to accept the money when Tula approached him. On the auspicious day of Dhanu Sankranti, the committee gave in to her insistence, he added.
In the meantime, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration said on Thursday that carrying smartphones within the 13th-century sanctuary would be completely prohibited starting next month.
The prohibition will be in place starting on January 1, 2023. Before entering the temple grounds, servitors will also be required to leave their smartphones behind, it stated.
