Maa Tarini Temple To Reopen From Tomorrow, SOPs Released

Keonjhar: The Maa Tarini Temple at Ghatagaon in Keonjhar district will reopen its doors for devotees from tomorrow i.e. January 18 after a closure of more than 9 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

A series of guidelines have been issued by the Maa Tarini Thakurani Temple Trust Board to ensure devotees have safe and hygienic darshan in view of the ongoing pandemic.

While the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine will open at 6 am tomorrow, devotees will be allowed to enter the temple for general darshan after all the morning rituals, informed the President of Maa Tarini Thakurani Temple Trust Board, Rajendra Patnaik.

Devotees will be permitted to have the darshan of Maa Tarini in two time slots, between 8 am to 12.30 pm and 4 pm to 6.30 pm every day, added Patnaik.

At first, the families of the servitors will be granted permission for darshan tomorrow between 8 am to 9 am following which other people will be allowed for the darshan. Children below 10 years have been restricted to visit the shrine.

Devotees will be allowed entry from Gate No- 3 after proper sanitisation of their hands and will exit from Gate No-4. People coming to conduct puja of their new vehicles will be allowed entry from Gate No-5, said the temple authorities.

The 'Anna' bhoga or cooked prasad will not be sold and devotees will not be allowed to perform the ritual of tonsuring the heads of their children in the temple premises till further orders.

Elaborate arrangement have been made inside the temple premises to avoid gathering and maintain physical distancing and use of masks will be mandatory at all times, inside and outside the shrine. Barricades have been installed to ensure people enter the temple in well-spaced queues.

Not more than 25 to 30 will be allowed inside the shrine at a time. Coconuts, flowers, bhoga, dipa and dhupa cannot be carried and lighting of diyas have been prohibited inside the temple by the devotees.

The shops inside the temple will be closed till further orders by the district administration. Adequate police officials and volunteers from several NGOs will be deployed to manage crowd and ensure safe and hassle free darshan for the devotees.

(Edited By Rashmi Ranjan Mohanty)