Puri Jagannath temple reopens for servitor families after 3 month hiatus - New SOPs released

After a gap of more than three months, the Jagannath temple in Puri of Odisha reopened for family members of the servitors on Thursday. For the general public, the temple will reopen from August 23, officials said.

"The Jagannath temple has been reopened today. I request all devotees to strictly follow the restrictions imposed in view of COVID-19 while having darshan at the temple," Odisha DGP Abhay said.

Required security arrangements have been put in place at the temple so that the devotees can have hassle-free darshan, he said.

All devotees must wear masks all the time, inside & outside the temple premises and they should sanitize their hands before entering the temple. The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the reopening of the temple in Puri.

As per the SOP, the residents of the Puri municipality area will be allowed entry for the darshan of the Lords from August 16 to 20. All devotees will be allowed entry for the darshan of the lords from August 23. The darshan timings will be from 7 am to 7 pm on all days.

The temple will remain closed for public darshan on all Saturdays & Sundays as a measure to contain the spread of coronavirus disease and to sanitize the temple premises. The temple will also remain closed on major festive occasions to avoid any spike in the transmission of COVID-19.

All devotees visiting the temple 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 before they visit the temple.

Similarly, there will be no partaking of Mahaprasad inside Ananda Bazar & temple premises. However, the devotees can carry Mahaprasad & partake it at their place of residence or any other convenient place, the SJTA said.

The temple has been closed since April 24, 2021 for the entry of the general public, given the threat of spread of COVID-19.