Puri: Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingh Deb has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be present during President Ram Nath Kovind’s visit to the Jagannath Temple in Puri on Saturday.
Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingh Deb tested positive on Friday, a day ahead of the President’s visit to Puri.
He was to have received Kovind at the Singhadwar and escorted him inside along with other key temple administrators. Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingh Deb, chairman of the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee, is asymptomatic and will be in home isolation.
The entire Puri town has been put under a security net for the two-day visit of the President beginning Saturday.
Kovind will stay in Puri Raj Bhawan during his visit. His entourage will be put up in a hotel. Earlier, arrangements for his stay were made at a private hotel.
The President is slated to arrive at the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar at 2.45 pm on Saturday, from where he will proceed to Puri. He will spend 45 minutes at the 12th-century shrine, from 5 pm to 5.45 pm.
The temple will be closed for the general public from 4 pm to 6 pm.
The following day, the President will inaugurate the three-year celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Srimad Bhakti Sidhant Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada, the founder of Goudiya Mission. He will also visit Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Mutt at 10.30 am and later fly back to Delhi.
Also read: https://odishabytes.com/watch-puri-town-put-under-security-blanket-for-presidents-visit-tomorrow/
