Odisha govt to invoke 144 around Puri Jagannath temple to prevent religious congregation

BHUBANESWAR: The state government has decided to invoke prohibitory order under section 144 of CrPC around the Jagannath temple to prevent congregation of devotees on Grand Road, facing the shrine, on Debasnan Purnima festival on Friday. Debasnan Purnima is a vital festival in the run-up to Rath Yatra, which is scheduled to be observed in a restricted manner on June 23 amid Covid-19 pandemic.
This is the first time a major festival in Jagannath temple will be hosted without the participation of devotees.Earlier, the district administration decided that they would neither allow devotees to enter the temple nor gather outside the shrine to watch the Debasnan Purnima rituals. On the auspicious day, the deities of the shrine will be given ceremonial bath on Snan Mandap (bathing altar) and later sport elephant attire, popularly known as Hati Besha. However, given the unprecedented situation caused by Covid-19 pandemic, the government decided to ban the congregation of devotees during the festival.
“We will impose the 144 prohibitory order from 10 pm of June 4 till 2 am of June 6. The restrictions will not be imposed across Puri town. Only the routes and lanes around the temple will be sealed. The routes included some portions of the Grand Road (from Market Square to Kakudikhai Chhak) and some lanes and bylanes connecting to the Grand Road. We request people to cooperate with us and not gather in the prohibited area for the specified period,” Puri district collector Balwant Singh said.
Police said action will be taken against violators. “We will install temporary barricades to seal the lanes and bylanes around the temple. People are free to move to other areas in Puri town. But nobody will be allowed to come near the temple nor gather in the prohibited surrounding areas of the temple,” a senior police officer said.
Temple officials said the Debasnan Purnima rituals will be performed by a limited number of servitors, who have undergone Covid-19 test and stayed in home isolation. The idols of gods Jagannath, Balabhadra and goddess Subhadra are scheduled to be brought from the sanctum sanctorum to the bathing altar inside the temple in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.
Since the administration has this time banned private channels from telecasting Debasnan Purnima live, the state information and public relations department (I&PR) will shoot the rituals and share the feed with the channels. I&PR secretary Sanjay Singh visited Puri on Tuesday and oversaw the arrangements for live telecast.