The 12th century shrine of the famous lord Jagannath in Puri is all set to re-open from today, but since we are still amidst a pandemic, necessary guidelines have been put in place and only devotees from the town of Puri will be allowed in the first phase.
The temple is opening after all of nine months.
The decision to reopen was taken after Chhatisa Nijog, the apex body of the temple priests, got a proposal approved by the state government recommending the reopening of the shrine in a graded manner.
Earlier this month, the State Endowments Commission had recommended the reopening of temples across Odisha in strict adherence to COVID-19 protocol. The opening of Jagannath Temple would mark the stage for reopening the rest of temples across the state from the start of the new year.
Odisha depends greatly on pilgrim tourism as lakhs of devotees come every year to these religious sites.
In the first phase, only devotees from Puri will be allowed (for five days). The temple will open from January 3 onwards for all devotees.
Visitors will have to provide a COVID-19 negative certificate for entry into the temple, as well as identity cards.
The temple will remain closed, due to the possibility of crowds on January 1 and 2 in view of the new year festivities. Thousands of pilgrims flock the temple on New Year&rsquos day to start the year with the blessing of Lord Jagannath.
A maximum of 5,000 devotees will be allowed to have darshan from January 3.