Puri Srimandir sees huge rush, devotees form human chain for darshan

Braving the scorching heat, a sea of devotees congregated on Bada Danda (Grand Road) in Puri on Sunday to offer prayers to the Holy Trinity ahead of the annual Rath Yatra 2023.

Devotees have been queuing from 2:00-2:30 am, reports said. As the queue extended up to Marchikote Chhak, devotees were asked to form a human chain and enter the temple to have the darshan of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra.

To avoid any untoward incident, adequate police personnel have been deployed and elaborate arrangements made by the administration to facilitate smooth darshan by devotees and the timely completion of all rituals at the shrine.

Puri SP himself reached the spot and took stock of the situation. 

“The darshan has been going on peacefully. The devotees are very enthusiastic. My request to the devotees is to cooperate as adequate police personnel have been deployed to maintain law and order. There is nothing to fear and we will ensure that every devotee leaves happily and has good darshan of the deities. Usually, devotees get excited and start running and pushing, so we are forming a human chain to prevent any untoward incident,” said Puri SP Kanwar Vishal Singh.

Meanwhile, there has been demand from various quarters to change the timing of the ‘dwara phita’ and darshan in view of the extreme heatwave condition. As the darshan begins at around 6:42 am, devotees have to stand in a queue under the scorching sun.

Early ‘dwara phita’ and darshan at around 2-3 am would have helped the devotees avoid standing in a queue under the scorching sun.