Puri’s Gundicha Temple reopened to devotees on Wednesday, more than six years after it was closed during the Covid-19 outbreak, restoring regular public access to one of the city’s most significant religious and heritage sites. The temple will remain open from 6 am to 5 pm, with free entry until October 2 and a Rs 10 fee from October 3.
The reopening was carried out by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) after a puja at the shrine. SJTA chief administrator Arabinda Kumar Padhee and other officials attended the ceremony, which took place amid chants of “Jai Jagannath”.
Gundicha Temple is located around 3 km from the Jagannath Temple and is revered as the birthplace of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra. The sibling deities stay at the temple for about a week during the annual nine-day Rath Yatra, but the shrine’s sanctum sanctorum remains without a deity for most of the year.
Before this reopening, devotees were generally able to enter the temple only during the brief Rath Yatra period. The temple had remained closed to the public after 2020, even after Covid-related restrictions were lifted in 2022. The SJTA and Puri district administration did not clarify the precise reason for the extended closure. Some officials attributed the delay to renovation work.
The SJTA said the Rs 10 entry fee would replace charges imposed by private operators who had previously managed access to the temple. Padhee said devotees and tourists had complained of being charged between Rs 50 and Rs 500 by private operators. The administration has now fixed a nominal fee and announced exemptions for children below five years, senior citizens above 80 years and differently abled pilgrims.
The decision places access management at the centre of the temple’s reopening. Unlike the Jagannath Temple, where entry is free, Gundicha Temple will charge visitors after the initial three-day period. The stated fee structure creates a formal system for access while also identifying groups that will not have to pay.
The administration has also added visitor facilities and visual elements linked to the Rath Yatra. Three wheels from the festival chariots have been placed inside the temple premises, while air-conditioners have been installed in the Jagamohan and Nata Mandap. These changes are intended to support the experience of visitors entering a temple whose religious significance is closely associated with the annual movement of the deities.
For devotees, the reopening changes the relationship between the temple and Puri’s year-round visitor economy. Pragati Dash, a devotee from Dhenkanal district, said the opportunity to offer prayers at the birthplace associated with the three deities would allow visitors to experience its spiritual significance beyond the Rath Yatra period.
The reopening also brings a previously seasonal religious destination into regular public use. Its operating hours, fixed fee and exemptions now provide a defined framework for visitors, although the administration has not announced further details on daily visitor capacity, ticketing arrangements or the management structure for the site. The temple’s regular opening began on Wednesday, with the free-entry period scheduled to continue until October 2 and the Rs 10 charge taking effect on October 3.