COVID-19 negative report not required to enter Puri Jagannath temple from Jan 21

While the servitors and their family members wereallowed to enter the temple from December 23 to December 25evening, the local residents of Puri got opportunity to havedarshan of the deities between December 26 and 31.The temple was finally opened to the public fordarshan of the sibling deities - Lord Balabhadra, DeviSubhadra and Lord Jagannath - from January 3, 2021 adhering tothe COVID-19 guidelines.

The Shree Jagannath TempleAdministration (SJTA) on Sunday announced that devotees need not produce their COVID-19 negative report for getting entry into the 12th-century shrine in Puri from January 21.

The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting attended by SJTA chief Krishan Kumar, Puri district magistrate-cum collector Samarth Verma and Superintendent ofPolice K B Singh.

''The devotees can enter into the temple without a having COVID-19 negative report from January 21. The decision will remain in force till February 21,'' the SJTA chief told reporters.

Kumar said the SJTA has decided to relax the restriction which was imposed on temple entry for the generalpublic. The temple opened to public from January 3 after remaining closed for nine months in the wake of the pandemic.

The Puri Collector said that special arrangements and queue system will soon be introduced for elderly/senior citizens coming to the temple.

The temple was opened in a phased manner from December 23, 2020. While the servitors and their family members were allowed to enter the temple from December 23 to December 25evening, the local residents of Puri got opportunity to have darshan of the deities between December 26 and 31.

The temple was finally opened to the public for darshan of the sibling deities - Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath - from January 3, 2021 adhering tothe COVID-19 guidelines.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)