Jagannath Temple to allow servitors, kin on first two days
BHUBANESWAR: As the state government gears up to reopen the Puri Jagannath Temple for devotees from December 23, the district administration on Friday said only the servitors of the 12th century shrine and their family members would be allowed to have a darshan of the deities on the first two or three days.
Earlier, the temple administration had planned to allow only residents of Puri to enter the temple between December 23 and 31. It would be thrown open to all from January 3.
“We will reserve darshan exclusively for the servitors and their families either on December 23 and 24 or December 23, 24 and 25. After December 25, only the residents of Puri town (municipality area) will be allowed inside the temple. All devotees will be allowed from January 3,” district collector (Puri) Balwant Singh said.
He added that they would take a call on the exact number of servitors and their families and the Puri locals to be allowed inside the temple.
“We will soon finalize a standard operating procedure for the regulation of the devotees. It will have a clear outline about whether a Covid-19 negative report is mandatory for all the devotees, including the residents of Puri, and the validity of the report with regard to their subsequent visits,” he said. To facilitate a smooth darshan for the residents of Puri town, the administration will issue tokens to them.
“We will make a schedule for the devotees belonging to the same wards. The ward-wise list is being prepared. The residents of the wards concerned will be informed about the date and time of their visit to the temple in advance. Accordingly, they will collect the tokens from the Jagannath Ballav mutt and stand in queues to enter the temple,” Singh explained.
The district collector further said the local devotees would have to show their Aadhaar or voter ID cards as the proof of their address.
The district administration officials said apart from the Jagannath Temple, all other places of worship in Puri would be reopened from December 23.
The Jagannath Temple and other religious places have been shut since March 20 in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.