Puri's Jagannath temple reopens after nine months; people from outside Odisha to get darshan from 3 Jan

Jagannath temple in Odisha’s Puri town has reopened after nine months for devotees today (Wednesday, 23 December). The temple, along with other places of worship, was closed in March to restrict the spread of novel coronavirus. The much-awaited ‘darshan’ of the sibling deities — Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath —began at 7 am amid strict adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines for servitors and their family members only, officials told PTI. According to Times Now, in November, chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Krishan Kumar informed that Puri Jagannath temple will open the doors be for devotees by the third week of December in a graded manner. The authorities have also laid out a special Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to ensure smooth darshan for devotees adhering to COVID-19 protocols. The administration has said that only residents of Puri will be allowed to enter the temple for the first five days. People visiting from other states will be permitted for darshan from 3 January, 2021. As per NDTV, the Jagannath temple will remain closed on 1 and 2 January, 2021, to avoid the rush of devotees to the temple town during New Year. Servitors of the temple will be required to show their identity cards to enter the temple. The government of Odisha had on Monday said that the process of re-opening of places of worship in the state has started after a decline in single-day COVID-19 positive cases. A report by The Telegraph mentioned officials saying that it was the first time in the history of the 12th Century Lord Vishnu shrine in Puri that devotees were denied darshan of the deities. All the people visiting the temple from 3 January will have to produce COVID-19 negative test report done with 48 hours. Devotees will not be allowed to offer flowers or carry any items inside the temple.