The world famous Lord Jagannath temple in Puri will reopen for all devotees with immediate effect from next Tuesday, February 1, with strict adherence to Covid protocols, said district collector, Samarth Verma on Friday.
The temple authorities had closed the shrine from January 10 till January 31 in view of the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the state and some servitors and temple employees getting infected by the virus. Though the shrine was closed to the devotees, routine rituals of the deities were undisturbed.
Residents of Puri town will be allowed to enter the temple from western gate, while outsiders will be allowed to enter from eastern gate. The daily opening and closing time for devotees at the temple will be adjusted according to city night curfew rules, Verma said. He said that the temple will be closed on festivals keeping in view the local situation.
“The local economy is mostly dependent on the temple. This apart keeping in view the sentiments of the people and slight decline in COVID-19 cases, it has been decided to reopen the temple for public from February 1,” he said. The 12th century shrine shall remain closed on Sundays for sanitization purpose.
“The devotees will be allowed entry into the temple from its eastern gate (Lion’s Gate) while the local people of Puri will go inside the shrine through the western gate,” the collector said. The district collector said a detailed guideline will soon be released for the public darshan in the temple. It will mention the time for darshan and precautions required to be taken for entering the shrine during the pandemic, he said.
(With PTI inputs)
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