Puri Jagannath Temple to reopen on Wednesday

BHUBANESWAR: All arrangements have been made to a tee on Tuesday as the state government is all set to reopen the famous Jagannath temple in Puri on Wednesday after nine months of shutdown. The shrine has been closed since March 20 in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak.
Around 2130 servitors and their family members, taking together around 12,000 persons, would get the first opportunity to catch the glimpse of gods Jagannath, Balabhadra and goddess Subhadra on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Nobody else will be allowed to enter the temple during the three days.
Darshan for the residents of Puri municipality area will commence from December 26 till December 31. The shrine will be thrown open for all devotees, irrespective of their places of stay from January 3.
On Tuesday, the district administration released a schedule of darshan for the Puri town residents. Puri municipality area has a total 32 wards with a population of around 2.5 lakh. Every day, the darshan will start at 7.30 am and will continue till night when all rituals are completed.
“We have identified certain wards, whose inhabitants will be allowed to enter the temple on specific dates. People of the concerned wards have been allotted specific time schedules as well to visit the shrine. We will avoid gathering of people of different wards at one particular time,” Puri district collector Balwant Singh told TOI.
Multiple checking counters have been erected outside the temple to verify the identity proofs of the Puri locals. Nine lanes have been created outside the temple to allow the devotees to enter the temple in queues.
To ensure that only servitors and their families enter the temple on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the district administration has created a two-layer checking system. “We will engage volunteers of a servitor’s association. Besides, personnel of Jagannath temple police (JTP) will also remain present to identify fake servitors. If any non-servitor is found entering the temple in the guise of servitors, we will lodge FIR against the imposters,” Singh said.
It must be noted, devotees were not allowed to participate in the major rituals and festivals, including Debasnan Purnima on June 5, Rath Yatra on June 23 and Nagarjuna Besha on November 27 of the temple owing to the restrictions imposed by the government in adherence to the Covid-19 guidelines.
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