PURI (ODISHA) : The Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha's Puri reopened for devotees on Wednesday after nine months.Visitors from outside Puri, however, will have to produce COVID negative reports to enter the shrine.The much-awaited 'darshan' of the sibling deities, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath, began at 7 am only for servitors and their family members amid strict adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines, officials said.The temple remained closed since March 20 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
This was for the first time in the history of the 12th century shrine that devotees were denied the opportunity for having 'darshan' of the deities, they said."It was a matter of luck for any human being to have darshan of the deities at.