BHUBANESWAR: All roads led to the Jagannath Temple in Puri on Thursday as the government eased the rule of carrying Covid-19 negative reports, which was mandatory for devotees so far, in order to enter the 12th century shrine.
By late evening, the temple had already met the daily cap of allowing 30,000 devotees for a darshan of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and goddess Subhadra.
Incidentally, Puri reported 23 Covid-19 positive cases on Wednesday, the highest among the 143 total cases of the day in the state, said the government data on Thursday.
The devotees, who had been anxiously waiting for their turn, could not hold back their tears. “I am very poor and could not afford to get a Covid-19 test done to enter the temple. I waited till this day to have a darshan of the temple’s deities,” Sandhyarani Pradhan, who sells flowers near Market Square in Puri, said.
The elderly and differently-abled visitors, too, offered prayers with ease by entering the temple in a separate queue. The police personnel and volunteers of some NGOs offered assistance to the needy and facilitated their hassle-free darshan.
The temple, which was shut for devotees since March 20 last year, reopened on December 23 with only families of servitors being let in till December 25. The devotees belonging to the Puri municipality area were allowed entry from December 26 till 31. While the shrine was shut on January 1 and 2 this year, it was thrown open to all devotees carrying Covid-19 negative reports from January 3 onwards.
“We did not face any difficulty in handling more than 30,000 devotees on Thursday as we already prepared a contingency plan. Adequate parking places were earmarked to regulate the traffic. The crowd was managed properly in compliance with the Covid-19 guidelines. Thermal screening of the devotees was conducted before letting them in the temple,” Puri district collector Samarth Verma said.
Police set up a help desk outside the temple and collected feedback from the visitors. “We interacted with the devotees and took their feedback about their experience and our arrangements. The feedback was positive,” Puri superintendent of police Kanwar Vishal Singh said.