Devotees from far and wide will finally get chance to witness the bliss of Lord Jagannath before their eyes with the reopening of the Puri Srimandir for general public from tomorrow onwards after several months of Covid hiatus.
Ahead of the reopening of the temple, sanitisation work has been carried out at the temple premises today. The darshan for devotees at the Srimandir had been discontinued after the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic hit the State.
However, after a decline in the number of virus cases and easing of lockdown restrictions across the State, the decision on reopening of the temple was taken. The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration decided to reopen the Srimandir for devotees in a phased manner.
According to the guidelines of the SJTA, only family members of the servitors were allowed access for darshan on August 12 and 13 in the first phase of the reopening. Darshan of the Holy Trinity for the residents of Puri Municipality was permitted from August 16 to August 20.
Moreover, for devotees coming from outside Puri, darshan will be allowed at the Srimandir from tomorrow onwards. The darshan which will be allowed from 7 am to 7 pm on weekdays will continue with strict adherence to Covid protocols. However, the 12th century shrine will remain closed for public darshan on all weekends i.e. Saturdays and Sundays.
During this period sanitisation work of the temple premises will be carried out as a measure to contain the spread of Coronavirus disease.