The rights forums have also demanded ramps in the shrine.

Pujapanda said wheel chairs from outside would not be allowed. If wheel chairs are allowed these would be provided by the temple authorities, he said.

'There is no problem in allowing wheel chairs but how can it be rolled on the temple steps. We would prefer wheel chairs which would be provided by the temple and they should not have any leather and other such items in it,' Pujapanda added.

Several disability rights groups had last month given a memorandum to the temple authorities to make facilities for the handicapped. A group of disabled has also decided to enter the temple on wheel chairs on Oct 2 - the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi - as a mark of protest.

'A disabled person often faces problems if he or she wishes to enter the temple. A handicapped devotee is often taunted by the temple servitors. Though the temple claims to have provisions to carry disabled devotees with the help of temple servitors, I being a woman would not like to be carried by male servitors,' said Shruti Mohapatra, the convener of the Women's Cell of Disabled People's International.