The famous Jagannath Temple of Puri in Odisha will remain closed for three consecutive days this new year. This step has been taken in order to prevent a possible 3rd wave in the state.
The new year day is considered as a very auspicious occasion by a huge number of religious tourists from across the country. Specially for the devotees from the neighboring states of West Bengal and Assam. Tourists prefer to visit the temple at the very beginning of the year and also spend time on the beaches nearly.
Since the number of tourists during this season increases manifold, the temple administration has decided to keep the temple premises shut for three days. They will stay closed for devotees on the 31st of December and 1st of January. The third day will be the 2nd of January when the temple remains closed for sanitisation purposes. Since the month of September, the temple stays closed on Saturdays and Sundays to allow proper cleaning and disinfection of the premises. This rule was later changed to only Sundays.
This order to keep the temple closed for the beginning of the year will have a negative impact on the tourism sector of the region.
