All Four Gates Of Puri Jagannath Temple Open For Devotees: Know Significance And Why Were They Closed

Puri: All four gates of Jagannath Temple were opened for the devotees on Thursday as the BJP government in Odisha fulfilled its poll promises. Early in the morning, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi along with Deputy Chief Ministers KV Singh Deo and Prabhati Parida were seen offering prayers at lord Jagannath temple in Puri.

Here’s What Odisha CM Mohan Majhi Says

Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi said, “We had proposed to open all the four gates of Jagannath Temple in yesterday’s cabinet meeting. The proposal was passed and today at 6:30 AM, I along with my MLAs and Puri MP (Sambit Patra) attended the ‘Mangala aarti’… For the development of the Jagannath Temple and for other works, we have proposed a fund in the cabinet. When we present the next state budget, we will allot a corpus fund of Rs 5 crores for the temple management.”

Hours after taking oath as the Chief Minister of Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi chaired the first Cabinet meeting with the Council of Ministers at Lok Seva Bhawan and approved four crucial proposals.

Speaking to media, Chief Minister Majhi said that the decision was taken considering the various issues of the 4.5 crore people of Odisha.

As per the first cabinet decision, all four gates of Puri Jagannath Temple were opened from June 13 and all ministers were present on Thursday morning during the Mangala Alati of Mahaprabhu Jagannath

Furthermore, the Chief Minister stated that the devotees and visitors were facing a lot of problems due to the closure of other three gates of the 12th-century shrine for the past few years. He stated that the decision created a gap between devotees and the All Mighty God and this gap will be bridged by the opening of four gates.

Why Puri Jagannath Temple Gates Were Closed?

Except for the Lions Gate, the other three gates of the famous Puri Jagannath temple were closed to devotees due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The closure of the gates was also done as part of the crowd-control measure.

Significance Of All Four Gates Of Jagannath Temple

• The world-famous Jagannath Temple has openings to the premises in four directions. These four gates are represented by four different animals.
• On the east side of the temple, there are lions and hence it is called Lion Gate or ‘Singhadwara’.
• On the west side of the temple, there are tigers and hence it is called Tiger Gate or ‘Vyaghradwara’.
• On the northern side of the the temple wall, there are elephants, hence it is named as Elephant Gate or ‘Hastidwara’.
• Moreover, the southern direction, represented by horses, is known as Horse Gate or ‘Ashvadwara’.

Rs 500 Crore Beautification Of Jagannath Temple

Apart from this, the state Cabinet also approved a corpus fund of Rs 500 cr, which will be utilised for safety, security & beautification of the temple.

Policy To Increase MSP For Farmers Soon

The state cabinet meeting under the chairmanship of Mohan Majhi decided to formulate a policy for farmers within 100 days to increase the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy to Rs 3,100 per quintal as promised to the farmers of the state. He added that orders have been given to the concerned department for implementation within the next 100 days.

He added that the Odisha government will prepare guidelines to implement the SUBHADRA Yojana under which the BJP has promised to provide cash voucher of Rs 50,000 to empower women and improve their economic status

The Chief Minister also added that the concerned departments have been instructed to prepare guidelines within the next 100 days.