All Religious Institutions In Sundargarh To Reopen On Jan 9

Sundargarh: All religious institutions including mosques and churches in the district will be thrown open for public from January 9 after a hiatus of over nine months.

A decision in this regard was taken after a discussion with all concerned officials of the district.

The district administration has issued advisory and fixed standard operating procedure (SOP) for devotees, whereby the use of face-masks, hand sanitising and social distancing have been made mandatory in and outside of the temples.

The shrines and other religious places in the district were closed since March due to Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent nationwide lockdown.

Meanwhile, religious institutions in Cuttack excluding Maa Cuttack Chandi Temple re-opened for the public on Thursday.

Earlier, the Sri Jagannath Temple in Puri, Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar, Samaleswari temple in Sambalpur, Maa Mangala temple in Kakatpur, Maa Tarini temple in Ghatagaan and other famous shrines across Odisha were thrown open for the devotees.

On Wednesday, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) withdrew the age restriction for devotees for entry into the Lord Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar.

Similarly, the Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has made Covid negative report mandatory for devotees to make entry into the 12th century shrine.

(Edited By Suryakant Jena)