PURI: The West gate of Shri Jagannath temple will open for local devotees from Monday. Puri sub-collector Bhabataran Sahu on Sunday said locals have to show their Aadhaar card or identity proof of their nativity at the West gate before entering Srimandir.
Sahu is the chairperson of the sub-committee which has been entrusted by the Chhatisha Nijog with taking a decision on opening of temple gates and submitting report within a week. Of the four gates of Shri Jagannath temple, only one (Simhadwar) is open for devotees. The rest three gates have been closed since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier, local devotees had demanded to open all the gates of Srimandir. The devotees said entry through a single gate was causing inconvenience as they have to stand for hours together in serpentine queues to enter the temple through Simhadwar.
Puri MLA Jayant Sarangi had criticised the administration and even threatened to launch agitation over the issue. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, renowned sand artist and Padma awardee Sudarshan Pattnaik and former minister Maheswar Mohanty had also demanded that people should be allowed to enter Shri Jagannath temple through all the gates of the shrine.