Bhubaneswar: Adding cheers to countless pilgrims, the Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has withdrawn its ban on entry of devotees to the temple on Sundays. The restriction was imposed to carry out sanitation of the temple premises during Sundays in view of the pandemic.

“We have now decided to allow the devotees to have a darshan every day. The sanitization of the temple premises, which used to be carried out on Sundays until now, will henceforth be done thrice a week after the closure of the temple in the night,” Sri Jagannath Temple Administration Chief Kishan Kumar announced.

He further declared that the devotees can have the maha-prasad in the Ananda Bazar and other designated places inside the temple by maintaining social distance.

The darshan of the deities will start at 6 am and devotees have to wear masks, the SOP states.

“We request the devotees to maintain adequate physical distance and not touch the idols in the temple. Lighting of diyas (earthen lamps) will be allowed at designated places in the temple. The earlier darshan arrangement, exclusively for Puri residents, from 6 am to 7 am will be discontinued,” the temple Chief Administrator elaborated.

In fact, the temple was prohibited for entry of the devotees since March 20 last year following outbreak of the pandemic. The temple administration, on January 21, discontinued the mandatory rule for devotees to carry Covid-negative reports to be allowed entry and decided to keep the temple shut on Sundays for disinfecting its premises in view of the pandemic.

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