Over 1.25 Lakh Devotees Visited Puri Jagannath Temple After Reopening

Puri: Around 1.25 lakh devotees visited Puri Jagannath Temple so far after the shrine reopened on December 26 last year. The footfall is likely to increase as the devotees are allowed darshan in Srimandir without COVID-19 negative reports from January 21.

The Puri district administration and Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) have made elaborate arrangements to facilitate Darshan of the Holy Trinity by 30,000 devotees per day.

After a high-level meeting held on Sunday, Puri Collector Samarth Varma said that the administration has chalked out a detail plan for the Darshan by 30,000 devotees from next week.

“We will also make a contingency plan if there is a rise in the devotee turnout at the temple,” said Varma.

On January 10, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) had relaxed restrictions which were earlier imposed on the darshan of the Holy Trinity by general public.

A detailed SOP has been issued in view of the relaxation of the mandatory COVID-19 report to gain entry into the temple.

It is pertinent to mention here that Puri Jagannath temple had reopened on December 23, 2020 after a gap of over nine months owing to Covid-19 pandemic. However, only servitors and their family members were allowed darshan of the deities initially.

The temple gates were thrown open for the residents of Puri town between December 26 and 31 last year. Later, Puri temple opened its doors to the public for darshan of Maha prabhu Jagannath and His siblings from January 3, 2021.

(Edited By Ramakant Biswas)