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All gates of Puri Jagannath Temple to open for devotees from tomorrow: Odisha CM
The temple gates had been closed during the Covid pandemic, with only the Simhadwara gate open to devotees, causing congestion and long queues.
Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday announced that all four gates of Jagannath temple will open for devotees from tomorrow morning. The announcement came after the first cabinet meeting of the new BJP government. Majhi told reporters that the gates – Simhadwara (Lion Gate), Ashwadwara (Horse Gate), Vyaghradwara (Tiger Gate), Hastidwara (Elephant Gate) – located on the four sides of the temple will be opened in the presence of all ministers.
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All doors of the centuries-old temple were shut during the Covid pandemic. Later, the devotees were allowed to enter the temple through Simhadwara, while other gates remained closed, resulting in huge rush and long queues.
Opening all the gates of Jagannath Temple in Puri was among the big election promises of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“Four entrance gates of Puri Jagannath Temple to be opened tomorrow tomorrow in the presence of all ministers,” Majhi said.
The Odisha chief minister detailed several other key decisions from the cabinet meeting. These include the establishment of a ₹500 crore corpus fund for the Shri Jagannath Temple, which will support the temple’s upkeep and development.
The cabinet also approved a new policy for farmers, setting a minimum support price (MSP) for paddy at ₹3100 per quintal, to be implemented within the next 100 days. Another notable initiative, the Subhadra Yojana, will provide cash vouchers of ₹50,000 to each woman, with directives given to the concerned department to roll out this program in the same timeframe.
“A corpus fund of ₹500 crore for Puri Shri Jagannath Temple was approved by the Cabinet. New policy on farmers under which paddy MSP of ₹3,100 per quintal to be provided. Policy to be ready after 100 days. Subhadra Yojana under which cash vouchers of ₹50,000 are to be given to each woman...Direction given to the dept to implement it after 100 days,” Majhi said.
