Odisha: Puri administration asks Kartika Brata observers to stay away from pilgrim town
BHUBANESWAR: Wary of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Puri district administration has asked women devotees not to visit the pilgrim town during holy Kartika month, starting November 2. Unlike previous years, the government has not set up free accommodation camps for Kartika Brata observers this time in view of the virus outbreak.
Every year, thousands of devotees, mostly elderly widows and married women from across the state and outside visit Puri to observe holy Kartika Brata. During the month, the Brata observers maintain austerity and offer prayers at Jagannath temple every day.
“We appeal to pilgrims, mostly elderly women to drop their plans of visiting Puri during the pandemic. We are not providing any special facilities to Brata observers this time. The Jagannath temple has been shut since March,” Puri sub-collector Bhabataran Sahu said.
The administration said since the elderly women observe the Kartika Brata, they could be more vulnerable to the virus infection. “We urge the devotees to observe the Brata at their homes,” Sahu said.
The administration’s appeal also assumes significance as the devotees, if visiting Puri, may find it difficult to arrange accommodation on their own. A number of mutts and lodges, which used to provide accommodation to devotees at affordable rates during the Kartika month, have been razed for implementation of Jagannath heritage corridor project. Though Puri has hundreds of hotels, the Kartika Brata holders always chose the mutts because of the religious significance of such places and conducive atmosphere to maintain a strict regimen during the holy month.
Pilgrims are upset over the unprecedented crisis. “I had been unfailingly visiting Puri to observe Kartika for the past ten years. I used to share a dormitory with other women in a mutt near the Jagannath temple. This time, my son did not allow me to visit Puri in view of the pandemic and problem of finding a suitable accommodation,” said Tilotama Devi, a devotee from Bhubaneswar.