The newly elected BJP government in Odisha on Wednesday approved a proposal to re-open all four gates of Puri’s Shree Jagannath Temple.
The government also announced a special corpus of Rs 500 crore to look after the critical issues related to the temple.
The entire cabinet, including Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, will also leave for Puri on Wednesday night and stay in the pilgrim town to witness the opening of four gates on Thursday morning.
“The state government decided to re-open all the four gates of the Puri Jagannath temple in (the) early morning tomorrow in the presence of all ministers. Devotees will have access to the temple through all four gates,” Mohan Charan Majhi told the media after approving the proposal.
Manjhi further added that devotees visiting the temple were having problems due to the closure of the gates and the recent decision will help ease their visit.
Notably, the BJP had also promised to open all the gates of Jagannath Temple in its assembly poll manifesto.
The previous BJD administration continued to keep the four gates of the temple closed since the COVID-19 pandemic. The devotees could enter through only one gate and there were demands that all gates be opened.
Earlier on Wednesday, four-time MLA and tribal leader from Keonjhar district Mohan Charan Majhi took oath as the first BJP chief minister of Odisha at a ceremony in Bhubaneswar, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Union ministers and chief ministers.