Politicians have temple priests working overtime

Temple priests hold meeting to find solutionu00a0 to competing demands by rival politicians

Thanks to the rising number of poojas performed in the build up to the Lok Sabha polls by politicians, overworked temple priests in Bangalore had a tough time scheduling the poojas.

"Every election, we face the same problem. All politicians appear to want the same pooja at the same time and we find it difficult to say no," said a member of the Agam Athreya Mahamandala, an association of temple priests.

The most sought after service is the 'prasada vinayoga' which involves serving lunch to devotees visiting the temple. "Politicians attempt to flaunt their power by serving a variety of dishes like pulligore and curd-rice on the occasion. When the meal is sumptuous, people admire the donator," he said.