Citizen’s forum launches signature campaign demanding re-opening of all four Puri Srimandir gates

Intensifying the demand for re-opening all four Srimandir doors, Puri, Sachetana Nagarika Mancha, a Citizen's Forum, has launched a signature campaign in the pilgrim town.

As per reports, the Forum will be collecting 1 lakh signatures from devotees in support of the reopening of the doors following which the demand letter carrying signatures will be submitted to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The process to allow entry of devotees only through the Singhadwara of the Srimandir which was put in place following the Coronavirus outbreak in Odisha two years back, is still continuing. It has angered many devotees who are devoid of the daily darshan of Lord Jagannath.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Srimandir in Puri allows darshan through only one gate, Singhadwara. It results in unprecedented congestion every day. The situation turns from bad to worse, especially on holidays when the devotees have to wait in queue for more than 4-5 hours for darshan.

With entry only allowed through Singhadwara, it has become virtually impossible for the senior citizens of the pilgrim city to get the darshan of their beloved Kalia (Lord Jagannath).

The huge rush at the Singhadwara recently resulted in a stampede-like situation as well when two devotees reportedly fell sick and unconscious on January 15.

On March 15, a few devotees were also injured in a stampede-like situation at the shrine