Odisha BJP government fulfils poll promise, all 4 gates of Jagannath Temple open for devotees from today
Odisha's BJP government in its first Cabinet meeting approved a proposal to re-open all four gates of Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri on early Thursday morning and set up a corpus fund for immediate requirement of the 12th-century shrine.
FollowFulfilling one of its poll promises, Odisha's newly sworn-in BJP government reopened all four gates of Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri today. On Wednesday, the decision was made during the Cabinet's first meeting.
Addressing the media after his temple visit, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said, “We had proposed to open all the four gates of Jagannath Temple in yesterday’s cabinet meeting. The proposal was passed and today at 6:30 am, I along with my MLAs and Puri MP (Sambit Patra) attended the ‘Mangala Aarti’.”
“For the development of the Jagannath Temple and other works, we have proposed a fund in the cabinet. When we present the next state budget, we will allot a corpus fund of Rs 500 crores for the temple management,” he added.
Odisha Minister Suryabanshi Suraj, who also accompanied Majhi to Puri, said that during the campaigning for Lok Sabha elections 2024, the BJP had said if it came to power, it would reopen all 4 gates.
CM Majhi and his MLAs were seen doing Mangala aarti at the Shree Jaganath temple on Thursday morning. Additionally present were Balasore MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi and Puri MP Sambit Patra. When the gates were opened, there was a tremendous rush at the temple and lengthy lines in front of the Singhadwara as worshippers came to take advantage of them. Devotees who had long called for the reopening of all temple gates to enable the seamless darshan of the Holy Trinity applauded this move.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the former CM Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government has kept all four gates of the temple closed. The pilgrims, who could only pass through one gate, complained about the difficulties they were having because the gates were locked. Additionally, the cabinet has resolved to establish a crore-plus corpus fund for the temple's preservation and protection.
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