Puri, September 8: Devotees will now be allowed Darshan of sibling deities – Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra – at Shree Jagannath Temple here on Saturdays. Two hour extension on daily darshan timing till 9 PM has also been announced keeping in view the improvement in COVID-19 situation in the State.
A decision to this effect was taken by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) today.
The 12th century shrine will remain closed on Sundays for sanitization purposes. Till today, the temple was being closed on Saturdays and Sundays for the purpose.
As per the earlier announcement, devotees will not be allowed entry into the temple on the occasion of Biswakarma Puja (September 17).
The fresh guidelines too mandated that all devotees would wear masks at all times, inside and outside the temple and sanitize their hands before entry.
They will maintain physical distance at all times as per COVID-19 guidelines and follow Covid appropriate behaviour. They will not be allowed to take flowers/ bhoga/ deepa inside the temple.
Chewing of Tobacco/ Paan and spitting inside the Temple premises is strictly prohibited. A fine of Rs.500 will be levied for each violation.
There will be no partaking of Mahaprasad inside Ananda Bazar & Temple premises. There will be a separate queue for differently-abled devotees, for darshan of the Lords.
All devotees will have to produce the final certificate for Covid-19 vaccination (of having taken two Doses) or COVID-19 negative certificate (RT PCR) of testing done within 96 hours prior to their visit to the Temple. All devotees will be required to bring their photo ID card like Aadhaar/ Voter ID etc.
