PURI: AS administration readies to allow entry of Puri town residents into Sri Jagannath Temple starting Saturday, its standard operating procedure (SOP) requires photograph of each devotee to be captured for documentation purposes.
The district administration on Friday came out with the SOP to ensure smooth entry of Puri town residents into Srimandir for darshan of the Trinity.The administration has raised around one km-long barricades with nine rows with sun shades on the top. Photographs of every devotee entering the barricades would be taken for official documentation.
The devotees would enter the temple through Simhadwar and exit through North Gate. However, Puri town residents are not required to carry Covid negative certificates, said the SOP. The town residents will be allowed darshan till December 30.The SOP was announced after the three days allotted for families of Srimandir servitors to have darshan of the deities came to an end on Friday night.
Sources said almost all servitors’ families managed to have darshan of the Trinity on Ratnasimhasan during the first three days after the temple reopened on December 23.As per the SOP, devotees listed from all 32 Wards of the town would be allowed darshan of the Trinity. Everyday, devotees of five Wards would go through barricades erected from Municipal Market Chowk and produce their tokens issued by Swachh Sathis and aadhaar cards before temple entry.
The darshan would be conducted in three phases in a day with a maximum limit of five thousand devotees. The first phase will begin at 7.30 am and continue till 12 noon. Similarly, the second phase would start at 12.30 pm till 4 pm and the final phase from 4.30 pm till closure of the temple gates.
Devotees have been advised not visit temple with any offerings like flowers and Tulsi. They have also been asked not to touch any deities inside the temple complex. Shoe and mobile phone stands besides drinking water facilities have also been made.
As many as 18 platoons of police force and 70 officers have been deployed to operate in two shifts for smooth conduct of the darshan, said Puri SP Kanwar Vishal Singh.