Crowd surge at Puri temple triggers virus spread fear

Bhubaneswar: It was a near stampede in front of Jagannath Temple in Puri on Saturday as thousands of devotees gathered to catch a glimpse of the sibling deities before the temple shuts its doors for the month to stem the Covid surge.
Even though the Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) had announced closure of the temple from Monday till January 31, the temple remains shut on Sundays to carry out sanitisation on its premises, effectively making Saturday the last time devotees could enter the temple this month for a darshan.
To make up for that loss, a huge crowd made a beeline for the temple, putting Covid safety norms to test. The queue was over a kilometre long, stretching from Singha Dwar to Marichikote Square on Grand Road. The darshan started at 5.30 in the morning and continued till 8.30pm, before the 9pm night curfew came into effect.
Normally, only those devotees who produce their final vaccination certificate or RT-PCR negative reports obtained within 96 hours of the visit, are allowed entry to the temple. But the situation turned so chaotic on Saturday that officials could not even check the vaccination or RT-PCR certificates, raising fear of a surge in cases, defeating the very purpose of keeping the temple doors closed for the public.
“Today is the last day of January when we can have a darshan of the deities because the temple will be closed from Sunday. Moreover, the speed at which Covid cases are rising, you never know when the temple will reopen and when the situation will become normal. So, we decided to offer prayers to the deities,” said Satyabhama Das, a devotee, who was standing in the queue to enter the temple.
“I feel very lucky that I could catch a glimpse of the deities before I return home. I was not aware of the decision that the temple will be closed from tomorrow. We have come on a trip to Odisha but are wrapping it up due to rising Covid cases,” said Sadhika Nag, a tourist from West Bengal.
The district administration decided to close the temple after several servitors, their family members, and temple officials tested positive. Only servitors will be allowed to enter the temple while a token system has been introduced for mahaprasad.
“It is a serious concern as cases are rising fast and people are coming in large numbers. To ensure safety of devotees, we decided to close the temple for the public till January 31. The situation is fast evolving and further decisions will be taken accordingly,” said Puri district collector Samarth Verma said.
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