Non-Living Monuments To Open In Odisha From July 6; Know The Details

Non-Living Monuments To Open In Odisha From July 6; Know The Details

Unlock 2.0 has brought in good news for those who were missing out on their love for beautiful ancient monuments and their architecture marvel. Come July 6, the state government has decided to open all the non-living monuments across Odisha where no worship takes place. However, Konark Temple has been excluded from that list. 

On Thursday, the Union Culture Ministry gave approval for the opening of monuments, places of worship, museums and heritage sites controlled by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) from July 6. However, ASI branch of Odisha decided to open only the non-living monuments across the state.

Informing about it, Arun Malik, Superintending Archaeologists of Bhubaneswar Branch of ASI, said “Immediately after getting a direction from the Central Ministry, we wrote to all the district collectors and they approved the opening of non-living monuments. However, we didn’t get permission to open the Konark temple.”

Popular non-living monuments where no worship takes place like Raja-Rani, Khandagiri caves, Udaygiri, Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri, Rani Jharial among others will open from July 6, informed Malik.

Around 3691 centrally protected monuments and archaeological sites maintained by ASI have been shut since March 17.

On June 8, the central ministry allowed reopening of 820 religious monuments across the country where worship takes place, which also included Puri Jagannath Temple, Lingaraj Temple among others. However, in Odisha, no religious monuments were allowed to open in the wake of rising cases of COVID-19 which has been extended till July 31.

As per new permission, only those monuments which are in the non-containment zone will be opened. “The monuments in Puri districts like Atharanalla bridge in Puri town, Konark temple cannot be opened due to restrictions imposed by the district administration,” he informed. 

Stating that visitors will have to follow the guidelines, Malik informed, “Visitors will have to compulsorily follow all social safety and hygiene norms. They shall park vehicles in designated areas and they shall pay for parking and in cafeterias only through e-payment.”

As per the guidelines, in the ticketed monuments, only e-tickets will be issued and visitors will be let in after mandatory hand hygiene and thermal scanning.  

Similarly, there shall be designated and single-line entry and exit routes, and routes for movement within the monuments. “Visitors may be restricted from accessing more vulnerable and interior parts of the monuments”, he informed.

The security staff have been instructed to make sure there is no crowding inside the premises and no group photography. The visitors have been advised to stick to the time limit inside the monuments. That apart, they will have to share their phone numbers with the ASI staff in charge of the monument to help in contact tracing if and when required.