The State Government on Monday effected the hiked entry free at for the Sun Temple here where domestic visitors will have to pay `30 and foreign tourists to shell out `500.
The ticket price has been increased three-fold from `10 to `30 for domestic visitors; while the fee for foreign tourists has been doubled from `250 to `500.
The Union Government had announced the three-fold hike for domestic visitors and 100 per cent for foreign tourists for entry into the historic monuments across the country which was protested by the Konark Suraksha Samiti, an outfit fighting for the 13th-century Hindu temple.
After a series of protests, the Puri district administration gave in to the demands of the outfit, including free entry of the locals to the temple on Saturdays. It may be mentioned that the revision in visitors’ fee comes after a period of more than 15 years as the last hike had taken place in 2000.