Odisha: Puri Jagannath Temple to reopen for devotees from August 23
Iconic Jagannath Temple in Puri to going to open from August 16-20 only for locals with weekend lockdown on Saturday & Sunday, the temple administration announced on Thursday adding that the entry for all devotees will resume from August 23. RT-PCR test or vaccination certificate is mandatory for entering the temple.
Odisha's COVID-19 tally rose to 9,82,181 on Wednesday as 1,315 more people tested positive for the infection, while 66 fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 6,168, a health official said. As many as 762 new cases were reported in quarantine centres, while 553 infections were detected during contact tracing, he said, adding that the single-day positivity rate was at 2.01 per cent.
Keeping in view the surge of COVID-19 cases in Odisha and also in Puri, the authorities of the temple of Lord Jagannath in the pilgrim town had closed the 12th century shrine till June 15. The famous temple is closed for the devotees since May 5 as a state-wide lockdown was imposed by the Odisha government.
Though members of the temple were not be allowed to enter the temple, all the age-old rituals of the deities continued with the help of servitors and the temple administration officials, Kumar said.
