Puri: Ahead of the new calendar year, a devotee on Wednesday donated silver valuables weighing 7 KG and a cash of Rs 5 lakh to Sri Jagannath temple Puri.
The devotee identified as Subrat Rath, a resident of Baramunda area of Bhubaneswar. He handed over the cheque and silver daily utensils of Lord Jagannath and his siblings to Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) here.
Administrator (rituals) of the temple, Jitendra Sahu, received the donation on behalf of the temple. Officials said that silver’s valuables will be used during several rituals of the holy trinity.
Earlier, a man named Padmacharan Patra of Bhubaneswar donated three sets of gold Sun, Moon ornaments to the Jagannath temple.
In February this year, a devotee of Lord Jagannath, who wanted to keep his name secrete, donated over 4.858 kg of gold and 3.867 kg of silver jewellery for the trinity – Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath, on the occasion of Shree Panchami.
The temple will remain closed for public darshan on December 31 to January 2, 2022 in order to avoid any spike in transmission of COVID-19 on account of the large gathering that is anticipated on those days.
Usually, a large number of devotees throng to the Shrine on the last and first day of a calendar year. In addition to that the temple will also remain closed to the devotees on all Sundays as per existing SOP. So, in total three days the temple will remain closed for public.