Stop ‘Paid Darshan’ in Temples and End Political Appointments in Devasthans : Sunil Ghanwat

Demand to appoint genuine devotees as ‘trustees’ instead

Nashik – The practice of ‘paid darshan’ is wrong as it creates discrimination among devotees. What should those devotees coming from afar do if they cannot afford it? Denying Darshan due to lack of money is an insult to their faith and a violation of the fundamental constitutional right to religion. In the eyes of God, rich and poor are equal; therefore, the system of Darshan should be the same for everyone. Paid darshan has also led to widespread black-marketing of passes. Hence, the facility of ‘paid darshan’ should be abolished in all government-controlled temples across the state, including Nashik and Tuljapur, stated Sunil Ghanwat through a press release.

🚩 Stop ‘Paid Darshan’ in Temples – No Political Appointments in Devasthans@SG_HJS , National Organiser of @mandirmahasangh, has demanded an end to VIP/Paid Darshan and political interference in temple administration.

🙏 Temple trustees should be genuine devotees, not… pic.twitter.com/z2trcDHhRH

— Sanatan Prabhat (@SanatanPrabhat) April 16, 2026

The press note states:

1. At the Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik, police have arrested Purushottam Kadlag (State Youth Vice President of the Sharad Pawar faction and trustee of the temple trust), along with Gotiram Manaji Pehere and Abhishek Kadlag, for allegedly financially exploiting devotees.

2. It has been revealed that despite an official pass of ₹200 at Trimbakeshwar, devotees are being lured with promises of darshan within 10 minutes and charged anywhere between ₹3,000 to ₹12,000. A similar situation exists at the Tulja Bhavani Temple, where a ₹200 pass is issued for special darshan, which rises to ₹300, ₹500, and even ₹1,000 during Navratri. Devotees have also complained about being charged additional amounts for quicker access.

3. When temples come under government control or committees with political appointments, a commercial mindset replaces devotion. The incident at Trimbakeshwar is a direct consequence of temple governmentisation. In a land that believes in “Atithi Devo Bhava,” it is unfortunate that even trustees run systems that exploit devotees.

4. Former trustees have alleged large-scale financial irregularities in the appointment of trustees at Trimbakeshwar. Therefore, a thorough investigation into the paid darshan system must be conducted to identify others involved.

5. To prevent such incidents in the future, instead of appointing office-bearers of political parties as trustees, only genuine devotees should be appointed. Necessary amendments should be made in the governing framework of temple trusts to ensure this change.