Jagannath Temple Enforces Dress Code For Devotees; Bans Gutkha, Pan, Plastic From New Year’s Day

Devotees visiting Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri have to follow a dress code and refrain from chewing gutkha and pan or using plastic and polythene from Monday, January 1, 2024. The temple administration and the police have implemented these rules to maintain the sanctity of the shrine and ensure smooth darshan for the devotees.

According to an official of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), devotees will be required to wear “decent clothes” to enter the shrine. Devotees wearing half pants, shorts, torn jeans, skirts and sleeveless dresses will not be allowed to enter the temple. Those who violate the restriction on gutkha and pan will be fined, he added.

The temple doors reopened for the devotees at 1.40 am on New Year’s Day. “More than 1,80,000 devotees have visited @JagannathaDhaam till noon (on Monday). Along with ensuring hassle-free darshan, police are ensuring the facilitation of specially-abled devotees,” Puri police Samarth Verma said in an X post.

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The SJTA and police made elaborate arrangements for smooth darshan by the devotees, including an air-conditioned tensile fabric structure outside the temple with facilities such as drinking water, public toilets, CCTV cameras and a public announcement system.

Inspector General of police of Central Range, Ashish Kumar Singh said there has been no hitches as yet and the devotees are entering the temple through the AC shed. Special arrangements have been made for senior citizens and people with disabilities. After visiting the temple, the devotees are exiting through the north gate, Singh added.

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Traffic restrictions have been imposed in the town for New Year’s Day. The area between Market Chakka to Singhadwara (main gate) on Badadanda has been declared a 'no vehicle zone', while vehicles have been banned on the beachside road from Digabareni to the lighthouse, officials said.

Similar rules were also enforced in the Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar, where consumption of pan and tobacco products and use of polythene and plastics have been banned from Monday. Devotees found chewing tobacco or betel leaves are not allowed to enter the premises of the temple.

(With PTI Inputs)