Covid 2nd Wave: Lingaraj Temple Closed For Devotees

Bhubaneswar: The famous Lingaraj temple in the State Capital city of Odisha will now once again remain out of bounds for devotees as the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to close the 11th-century shrine following detection of substantial number of Covid-19 positive cases among servitors at the temple.

In order to contain the further spread of the virus, the public entry into the shrine is restricted until further orders, read an advisory issued by BMC on Sunday.

However, the temple will remain open for usual rituals to be conducted by the servitors only. The Ashokastami Festival will be observed by the temple administration as per the plan.

As many as four servitors of the eleventh century shrine tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, today’s test reports are still awaited.

It is worth mentioning that after remaining closed for almost nine months due to Covid-19 pandemic last year, the temple was reopened for devotees on January 6, 2021.

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(Edited by Suryakant Jena)