Puri: On the first day of the new year, lakhs of people visited the Jagannath temple on Wednesday to seek blessings of Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath. An official gave this information. A huge crowd of devotees and tourists was seen in Puri, Odisha. A case has come to light of hundreds of devotees breaking security barricades in front of Sri Jagannath temple to take darshan.

Devotees allegedly broke barricades

According to reports, devotees allegedly broke the barricades after standing in queue for hours to seek blessings of the holy trinity. However, there is no report of any casualty in the incident. Since last night, a long queue had been forming from the temple to the market square, which is about half a kilometre away. Fed up with waiting for a long time, devotees allegedly broke the security cordon. Due to which many people fell and were crushed. However, they suffered minor injuries and were rescued with the help of other devotees.

Lakhs of people visited the Jagannath temple

The Jagannath temple was built in the 12th century. More than a kilometre long queue of devotees was seen on the 'Grand Road' leading to the temple from Market Chowk to the Singh Dwara (Lion Gate) of the temple. "The police is dedicated to ensure a safe and smooth passage for all pilgrims," ​​Puri Superintendent of Police Vineet Agarwal said. Tight security arrangements have been made at the temple, the official said. He said 70 platoons (30 jawans in one platoon) have been deployed for the smooth movement and darshan of devotees.

The gate of the temple was opened at 1:05 AM

The official said that police personnel have been deployed outside the temple and in the premises. Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Arabinda Padhi said that devotees are allowed to enter the temple only from the Singh gate in the east side and they have been directed to exit from three other gates. He said that in view of the continuously increasing crowd, the gate of the temple was opened at 1.05 am on Tuesday night and since then devotees are having darshan of the Lord.

The Superintendent of Police said that ambulance services are also available to deal with any medical emergency. He said that the entire city is under surveillance and CCTV cameras have been installed at important places. The district administration and SJTA have made elaborate arrangements to control the crowd and ensure smooth darshan for the devotees. Apart from strict security measures, the police have also enforced various traffic rules.