Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The Jagannath Temple in Puri reopened on August 23 with strict adherence to Covid-19 rules. The temple was closed for non-Puri residents for the last three months due to the second wave of the Covid. When the cases started to drop, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) decided to reopen Srimandir in a phased manner.
According to the official reports, in the first phase, only family members of the servitors were allowed access on August 12 and 13. In the second phase, the residents of Puri municipality were permitted to have Darshan of the Holy Trinity from August 16 to August 20. In the third phase, outsiders will be allowed to enter the Srimandir from August 23.
The Darshan timing will be from 7 am to 7 pm, and the temple will remain closed for the public on all weekends so that the premises could be sanitised. It will also be shut for the upcoming festivals such as Janmashtami on August 30 and Ganesh Chaturthi on September 10 to avoid any spike in the cases.
The report further added that people who are fully vaccinated will have to produce the latest vaccination certificate while the partially-vaccinated ones will have to furnish a negative RTPCR report taken in not less than 96 hours; face masks, hand sanitisation and social distancing are mandatory. People will have to bring their photo ID card, namely, Aadhaar Card or Voter ID.
All devotees will enter through Singhadwara. After the Darshan, the exit will be through Uttaradwar. Four doors of the temple have been barricaded and sanitised, with fire teams being deployed.
