Puri: In view of heavy rush of devotees, only one gate of Jagannath temple in Odisha’s Puri will be opened to ensure smooth darshan of the deities on December 31 and January 1.
The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), in a notification on Sunday, said it had several measures for hassle-free darshan on the two days when as lakhs of devotees were expected to visit the temple.
It has decided that the devotees would be allowed to enter only through Singhadwar (Lions’ Gate). But they can come out of the temple through the rest three gates. Besides, they will have to move in a line inside the temple to go into the main temple for darshan of Lord Jagnnath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra.
Meanwhile, the district administration and police have made elaborate security arrangements for the devotees. Barricades have been erected from the Singhadwar to Market Square.
DIG (Central) Charan Singh Meena said 60 platoons would be deployed for crowd management on the two days. Besides, 10 additional SPs, 33 DSPs, 62 inspectors, 245 sub-inspectors and assistant SIs would be assigned the responsibility of controlling the devotees.
While two teams of police would be deployed inside the temple, special anti-snatching teams would keep a sharp eye on the anti-socials in crowded places of the town, he said.
He further said checking of vehicles has already started at different entry points to Puri and inside the town also. A special outpost would be opened on sea beach, he added.
