Puri: The long wait for devotees to visit Jagannath Temple here and have a glimpse of the lord has finally come to an end. The doors of the temple will be reopened for devotees December 23 onwards, but in a phased manner.
Puri District Collector Balwant Singh said Monday the servitors and their family members will be allowed to enter the temple between December 23 and 25. The doors will be opened for the general public from December 26 and ‘darshan’ will continue till December 31. The doors of the temple will remain closed January 1 and 2 next year. This is because on these two days, there is a chance of huge crowds thronging to the temple.
“In order to ensure smooth visit of devotees into the temple, a system has been put in place. Devotees from each ward of Puri town will be allotted date. On that day they will be allowed to visit the temple. Tokens will be distributed to those who want to have a glimpse of the ‘Trinity’. Token holders will also have to produce their Aadhaar Card at the time of entrance,” Singh informed.
“However, January 3 onwards the token system will cease to exist. All devotees wanting to enter the temple will have to produce a COVID-19 negative test report three days prior to their entrance date. Initially it has been decided that 5,000 visitors per day will be allowed to enter the temple. ‘Darshan’ of the deities will start from 7.00am in the morning,” Singh added.
Notably, the Jagannath Temple has remained out of bounds for devotes for close to nine months since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
PNN
