Puri Turns Into ‘No Entry’ Zone For Lord Jagannath’s Nagarjuna Besha

Puri: Apprehending large congregation of devotees for Nagarjuna Besha of Lord Jagannath on Thursday, the Puri district administration has decided to seal all entry points to Puri town from Wednesday afternoon.

“In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have requested the devotees not to visit Puri during the Nagarjuna Besha of the Lord. Police will be deployed at all entry points of the town to stall any such attempts,” Puri sub-collector Bhabatarana Sau told the media.

The residents of Puri, however, will be allowed darshan of Lord Patitapabana at Simhadwara of the Jagannath temple. “For the darshan of the Lord, the devotees will come from the Marichikot Chhak in a queue and leave through the Kakudikhai Chhak after the darshan,” he added.

Sahu further said that three-tier security has been put in place at the three gates of the temple to stop the entry of the devotees during Nagarjuna Besha. Apart from this, mobile phones of all temple sevayats are being checked by a special team of police, he pointed out.