Holy flag atop Puri's Jagannath temple catches fire

Scores of people were taken aback when the holy flags atop Puri Srimandir caught fire yesterday evening. A video of the fire incident is now doing rounds on social media.

Puri (Odisha): A holy flag atop the Jagannath temple in Odisha's Puri caught fire when a grand lamp was being placed near it, officials said on Friday.

The incident took place when the ''Mahadeepa'' or the lamp was being placed atop the 12th-century shrine by the servitors on Thursday night on the occasion of ''Papanashini Ekadashi'', temple officials said.

The ''Mahadeepa'' is placed atop the temple on special occasions, they said, adding the incident took place because of gusty winds.

However, the main flag was safe and the flame engulfed a smaller flag tied to the ''Neelachakra below'' the principal ''Bana'', sources said.

Reports said that the rituals of Sri Jagannath temple will be not be hampered as the Nilachakra Bana did not catch fire.

The Simandir will remain closed for the next 14 days as a measure for the prevention of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Notably, a government official in Bhubaneswar said that nine samples were tested on Friday for COVID-19 and all of them were found to be negative.

(with inputs from PTI)