They are in distress with no earnings as ritualsusually organised at home have been cancelled while weddingsand other social programmes postponed, he said, adding thatseveral devotees are not visiting temples during the ongoinglockdown.
"If there are no pujas and other religious functionsin the next few months to prevent gatherings, how the priestswill survive," the spokesman of the Paschim Bango SanatanBrahman Trust, an organisation of Hindu priests in the state,said.
The coronavirus-triggered lockdown has left over twolakh priests across districts jobless, the spokesman said.
The organisation has planned to write a letter toChief Minister Mamata Banerjee to seek help from thegovernment, he said.
Many priests don't have any other steady income andtheir families solely depend on their earnings from ritualslike pujas, and weddings, he said.
Anindyo Mitra, father of a software engineerPrithviraj Mitra, said his son's wedding reception wasscheduled to be held in mid May, which has been cancelled forthe time being.
"Our family priest requested us to go ahead with thescheduled ceremony on a smaller scale. But we have cancelledit for the time being. We are hopeful about organising thereception by November this year.
"Our family priest has lost many other contracts inthis season," Mitra said.
Sharing his experience during the lockdown, PrashantaChakraborty, a priest in Agarpara area of North 24 Parganas,said three household 'Annapurna' pujas in Sodepur andBelgharia localities, had been cancelled at the last moment inMarch end, and that was the beginning.
Many shopkeepers, traders and businessmen, who usuallyobserve the "haal khata" ceremony -- opening of new books ofaccounts on the occasion of 'Bangla Nabobarsho', new Bengaliyear,-- are also cancelling their programmes to avoidgatherings, he said.
This year, 'Bangla Nabobarsho', is scheduled onTuesday.
"I used to earn around Rs 4,000 in total on 'PoilaBoisakh' (the first day of the first month of a Bengali year).I would have earned around Rs 2,000-2,200 from 'Annapurna'pujas... Hopefully, things will not be that bad during DurgaPuja and Kali Puja to be held later this year.
"If the situation during that time remains as it istoday, we will die," Chakraborty, who has a 10-year-olddaughter and wife, said.
Upen Mukherjee, an elderly priest in Tollygunje areaof the city, said he joined the profession seven years agoafter his retirement.
The last function that he had managed was a 'grihoprobesh' (puja to mark entering a new house) on February 24,Mukherjee said. SUSBDC BDC