For the first time in history of the Jagannath Temple, the temple administration has made provisions for the entry of differently-challenged devotees to enter the temple and offer prayers.
On Thursday, over a hundred such devotees entered the temple using the specially-laid ramp at the North Gate of the temple.
Temple PRO lD Pujapanda said a total of 140 differently-abled devotees along with two dozens of officials and caretakers entered the temple through the ramp and offered prayers to the presiding deities, lord Jagannath and his siblings lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra on the Ratnasimhasan in the Garbhagruha by the evening.
The visit of these devotees was organised by the Disable Trust of India, Surat, Gujarat. Earlier, trust officials had approached the Puri district Collector and the Chief Administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration to create such a facility.
Accordingly, the SJTA has put in place a 50-metre-long and six-foot wide ramp from the North gate to the Kurma Bedha.
On the visit of the disabled, temple priests offered Prasad and blessed them.
The administration also provided them a vehicle to visit Konark in the day, informed National Disable Association president Kanhu Bhai Tailer.