TRICHY: A temple staff member working at the darshan counter of the Srirangam temple was transferred after he allegedly spoke rudely to devotees who were frustrated by the non-availability of online payment facilities on Friday due to technical issues.




“There were huge crowds at temples across Tamil Nadu due to the extended weekend. Because of this, there were server issues, and the same server is used across Tamil Nadu. The staff member has been transferred to the Anbil Mariamman temple after he lost his cool with the devotees,” Srirangam joint commissioner S Sivaramakumar told TOI.




Temple staff member Saravanan can be seen shouting at devotees in a video that has gone viral on social media.




Large numbers of devotees thronged the famous Srirangam temple on Friday. The crowds were higher than usual as it is also the sacred Puratasi month.




A server issue at the ₹100 darshan counter left devotees who were not carrying physical cash stranded in long queues. Devotees also complained of poor crowd management and alleged unruly behaviour by temple staff.




“Instead of explaining the issue in a cordial manner, he started shouting and said, ‘Do whatever you want to do. You can take darshan only if you have money.’ We travelled a long distance with our families. I then had to transfer ₹100 to four different people and collect physical cash from them to pay at the counter,” a devotee said.