India News | Process Begins for Reopening of Places of Worship in Odisha

Bhubaneswar, Dec 14 (PTI) After being closed for about nine months due to COVID-19 outbreak, the Odisha government on Monday said the process for reopening religious institutions has started, a top official said. Following decline in single-day COVID-19 positive cases, the authorities are now mulling reopening of religious places for devotees, he said. While the number of daily COVID-19 cases was 644 on November 14, it has almost halved to 322 on December 14. District collectors have been empowered to take a decision to open the religious places in their respective districts after discussing with stakeholders and putting standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place, Chief Secretary A K Tripathy informed in a tweet.

There was a state-wide demand to reopen temples, churches and mosques after the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) initiated measures to throw open the 12th century shrine in Puri for devotees from December 23. All public places of worship are closed since March March 22 following the outbreak of COVID-19.

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The State Endowments Commission has recommended to the state government to reopen temples across Odisha with strict adherence to the COVID-19 protocol, said Endowment Commissioner Chittaranjam Mohapatra. Meanwhile, the SJTA has sought the state government's approval for reopening the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri in a graded manner from December 23, an official said. While the local residents of Puri will get the first opportunity to enter the temple in the first five days of its reopening, the temple will remain closed on January 1 and 2 in view of the possibility of the rush of devotees to the pilgrim town on New Year's Day.

From January 3 onwards, the temple is likely to be kept open for all.

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Bhubaneshwar, the 'city of temples', still preserves 700 temples, around which the religious life of the city revolves. The state capital is not only a major destination for tourists but also for pilgrims. Shree Lingaraj Temple, Ananta Vasudeva Temple, Mukteshwar Temple, Brahmeshwar Temple, Rajarani Temple in the state capital are among the well known religious sites for Hindus.

There are above 8,000 temples which are more than 100 years old across Odisha, says Anil Dhir, a history researcher and project co-ordinator of INTACH.

The Christian community is also anxiously waiting for reopening of churches as Christmas is approaching. "We have to take permission from the district collector before reopening churches on the occasion of Christmas," said a senior church leader. The Oriya Baptist Church in Cuttack, Church of Christ in Bhubaneswar, Kritangiya Miracle Church at Kandhamal are some of the places of worship of the Christians.

All India Christian Council, Odisha Chapter leader P R Parichha said, there are about 3,000 churches in the state.

The number of mosques in Odisha is estimated to be more than 2,000.

Madrasa Masjid in Bhubaneswar, Kadam Rasul Masjid and Shahi Mosque in Cuttack are the prominent mosques in the state.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)