The air rented with “ Jai Jagannath and haribol “as hundreds of devotees, observing covid guidelines, entered into Sri Jagannath temple on Sunday,opened for the people to have darshan of the three presiding deities.
The devotees were seen standing in a queue from municipal market chowk in nine rows created within the barricades to visit the temple which was closed for the devotees in march the wake of covid pandemic. .They produced Adhar cards and covid negative certificates while their attendance was photographed in a specially raised Kiosk before entering into the temple through Simhadwar, the temple main gate.Residents of Puri are also subject to comply with the mandatory requirements before entering into temple from today onwards.The temple administration has made arrangements to facilitate about 17,000 devotees per day for darshan of lord Jagannath, his elder Balabhadra and devi Subhadra in three sessions.
Entire Badadanda was illuminated while devotees were standing in a queue waiting for their turn. Darshan would continue till the temple is closed in the night.The administration had installed free shoe and mobile stands besides other basic facilities for the devotees.At least 17 platoon police forces were deployed to work in two shifts to ensure observance of Covid-19 norms and for smooth conduct of the darshan.All the official parking space were full while a large number of vehicles were seen parked on roadsides.Six devotees from Bengal, UP, Jharkhand and Bihar were tested positive and refused entry into the temple .They were later admitted into the hospital..Biranchi Das a social activist said poor and economically backward devotees could not afford the cost of covid test.
He said only the upper and middle class devotees could have darshan till the mandatory covid test continues. It defeats the tenets of Jagannath culture which preaches equality of all and there is no discrimination of cast, creed or economic strata of devotees.
