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Jagannath Temple to create bio bubble for Rath Yatra
Three Maharana servitors and five Bhoi servitors of the 88 servitors have tested positive while constructing the three chariots on the Grand Road of Puri, said officials of Sri Jagannath Temple Administration
With 8 servitors engaged in construction work of chariots for upcoming Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath in Puri, Odisha, testing positive for Covid-19, the Jagannath temple administration has decided to create a bio bubble around them to prevent any further infection.
Three Maharana servitors and five Bhoi servitors of the 88 servitors have tested positive while constructing the three chariots on the Grand Road of Puri, said officials of Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA).
“As the Rath Yatra is still a few weeks away, we don’t want more servitors to be infected and so they would function within a bio bubble. No mediapersons will be allowed near them during construction. They will be in isolation till the construction is over,” said SJTA chief administrator Dr Krishan Kumar.
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The chariot construction work began on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya on May 15 this year. The Rath Yatra is scheduled on July 12.
The SJTA is also speeding up vaccination of servitors in the 18-44 age group ahead of the yatra, aiming to cover 4,300 servitors within 15 days.
Like last year, the Rath Yatra this year may be conducted without devotees with the necessary Covid protocol in place.
