For the second straight day, tourists were unable to enter the Sun Temple here as the protest launched by the Konark Suraksha Samiti (KSS) over the hike in entry fee continued on Saturday.
Hundreds of domestic and foreign tourists, who came for a glimpse of the UNESCO World Heritage site, returned from the gate of the temple.
KSS members locked the ticket counter and staged a demonstration in front of the temple.
Notably, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the custodian of the Sun Temple, has hiked the entry fee from `10 to `30 for domestic tourists and from `250 to `500 for foreign visitors from April 1.
The protestors alleged that the fee hike decision on the part of the ASI was arbitrary even when it has failed to conserve the world monument.