Puri: The Loknath temple in the town will remain open till 10 pm on Sunday for the devotees to offer puja on the occasion of ‘Pankoudhhar Ekadasi’.
The day holds significance as Garvagruha (sanctum sanctorum) of the temple is cleaned for the devotees to have darshan and offer puja to complete Shiv Linga once in a year.
As per tradition, the temple was opened at 3 am and Shiv Linga was offered puja. Then, the servitors and the local people started bringing out the flowers, fruits, leaves and gold and silver ornaments that had deposited as offerings to the deity throughout the year in the sanctum sanctorum.
After the place was cleaned, the ‘Mahasnana’ (grand bath) of the deity was performed by the priests. Following this, the devotees were allowed to have darshan of the Linga inside the Garvagruha.
Since the temple was closed due to COVID pandemic and lockdown for the last two years, a large number of devotees turned up to have darshan of Shiv Linga on the special day. Considering the rush of the devotees, the temple administration has decided to allow darshan till 10 pm.
The temple administration and local authorities have made all necessary arrangements for the devotees to have hassle-free darshan of the deity in adherence to COVID guidelines.
Special barricades have been erected for the people to go in a queue inside the temple and adequate police forces deployed to maintain law and order.
