The Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri is preparing to introduce a queue-based darshan system that could allow about 10,000 devotees to have darshan within an hour, Odisha Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan said on November 6.
The proposed arrangement is intended to regulate the movement of devotees and manage crowds inside the temple. Under the plan, queue-based darshan would be organised after the Satapahacha area, extending from the Garuda Stambha towards the Bahar Katha section.
Harichandan said the system would be introduced only after members of the Chhatisa Nijog and the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee inspect the proposed route. Their assessment and feedback will be considered before the arrangement is implemented.
The announcement places the proposed queue system within the temple’s existing movement pattern rather than presenting it as a separate visitor facility. The planned route begins after Satapahacha, a key internal point, and passes through the area around the Garuda Stambha before reaching the identified outer section.
The stated capacity of about 10,000 devotees an hour would make the system a major crowd-handling intervention if it is implemented as planned. However, the report does not specify the number of entry lanes, the physical infrastructure required, staffing arrangements, timings, access provisions for different categories of devotees or how the flow would be managed during peak occasions.
The proposal also requires coordination between the temple’s servitor body and its management committee before it can become operational. Their inspection is expected to examine the proposed arrangement and provide an institutional response before the next step is taken.
For devotees, the immediate change is not yet an operating rule. The queue system remains a proposal pending inspection, review and approval through the temple’s established management process. The authorities have said the objective is to make darshan more orderly while controlling crowding within the temple.
The next confirmed milestone is the inspection of the proposed queue route by members of the Chhatisa Nijog and the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee. The system will be introduced only after their review and feedback.
