Divyang devotees can now visit Puri Jagannath Temple with ease
Puri: Divyang devotees can now visit Puri Jagannath Temple with ease, said reliable reports in this regard on Thursday. The darshan of Divyang devotees will be easy in the temple. Two specially made wooden chairs have been prepared as a demo.
Reports further said that, some Bahaks (people who can carry the divyang, volunteer) will be hired to take the Divyang devotees around the temple.
Once in a month all the registered Divyang devotees will have darshan in front of the Jayavijay gate. The information regarding the same has been provided by the managing committee members of the Puri Jagannath temple.
The prevailing problems of the divyangs to have the darshan of Lord Jagannath and his siblings in Puri Srimandir is all set to be resolved soon as the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has decided to issue a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in regards to Divyang can now visit Puri Jagannath Temple.
According to additional chief administrator of SJTA Samarth Verma, the issue of the divyangs was discussed in the recently concluded Chhattisa Nijog meeting, held on Tuesday.
The meeting decided that the divyang devotees will have to register themselves online for the darshan of the deities. Later, they will be taken on wheelchairs till the North-Gate (Uttara Dwara) of the temple. Thereafter, the bahakas (carriers) will carry them on special wooden chairs through the ghanti dwara and keep them near the Jaya Vijaya Dwara from where the differently-abled persons can have the darshan of Lord Jagannath and his siblings.
As per the decision, only two attendants of the divyang devotees can accompany them during the darshan. However, they can have the darshan between the Gopala Ballabha ritual and Sakala Dhupa (first secret worship). The Pratihari sevayats will make the arrangement for their darshan.
Each day, only 20 divyang devotees can have the darshan of the deities. They can visit the temple but can have their next darshan only after 30 days of their first darshan.
On the other hand, the senior servitors have demanded to increase the each day number limit of the divyang devotees from 20 to more. They also suggested to finalise a particular time frame for their darshan and carry them on the back of the servitors instead of special wooden chair.
Meanwhile, the divyang devotees, who at present can visit till the Singhadwara and see the Patitapaban only, have welcomed the decision taken for their hassle-free darshan of the deities and thanked the temple administration for the same.
Ms Kalinga