President Kovind’s Puri Visit: Srimandir To Close Shortly For General Public

The Srimandir in Puri will remain closed for a few hours on February 19 on account of President Ram Nath Kovind’s visit to the 12th Century shrine.

As per reports, the President of India will visit the temple from 5 pm to 5.45 pm on February 19. The temple will remain closed for the general public from 4 pm till 6 pm, informed the SJTA on Monday.

As far as the security arrangements are concerned, around 40 platoons of police force will be deployed during the President’s visit to the Pilgrim town, informed district administration officials after a high-level meeting held on Saturday.

According to Puri district Superintendent of Police, Kanwar Vishal Singh, the focus will be on ensuring the smooth sailing of all the programmes which the President is scheduled to attend. Adequate measures will be taken to ensure that devotees and other citizens do not face many inconveniences during the VVIP’s visit to the holy town.

Puri district Collector Samarth Verma said that elaborate measures have been taken for the President’s visit and proper discussions have been made with all stakeholders.

Earlier today, the Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) decided to relax the Covid restrictions for the entry of devotees into the holy shrine without the double-dose vaccination certificate from February 21.

Since the daily Covid cases have gone down considerably and almost all the people have been administered vaccines at least twice, the temple administration decided to relax the curbs, informed the Chief Administrator of SJTA, Krishan Kumar.