Summary:
A day before the festival on July 12, a curfew would be imposed in Puri city which would be in effect till noon the next day
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The Odisha government on Saturday said that this year`s annual Rath Yatra festival will be held without crowds of devotees and they will not be allowed to watch the rath yatra from rooftops.
Puri District Magistrate Samarth Verma told reporters here that the administration has reviewed its decision and restrictions have also been imposed on viewing the Rath Yatra from the roofs of homes and hotels.
He said that a day before the festival on July 12, a curfew would be imposed in Puri city which would be in effect till noon the next day.
Verma said that this festival of Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Jagannath is being celebrated for the second consecutive year without the participation of devotees due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He appealed to the people of the city to watch the live telecast of the festival on television.
The world-famous Rath Yatra will be held on July 12.
The chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra will be pulled to the Gundicha temple, which is about three kilometres away from the main temple on the day of Rath Yatra.
The Rath Yatra will start on July 12 at 8.30 am and the process of pulling the chariots will start from 4 pm.
After this, the three deities will be brought back to the main temple on 23 July.
Snan Purnima will start on 24th June with Pahandi at 1 am and will end by 4 pm.