Holy flag atop Puri’s Jagannath temple catches fire

The 'Bana' or holy flag hoisted atop Shree Jagannath Temple hadcaught fire on Friday evening.

Reportedly, the incident had taken place when the'Mahadeepa' or the lamp was being placed atop the 12th-century shrine by theservitors on the occasion of 'Papanashini Ekadashi'.

The 'Mahadeepa' is placed atop the temple on specialoccasions, 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 tothe 'Neelachakra below' the principal 'Bana', sources said.

The fire was put out by the servitors promptly and the rituals of the temple were not affected because of the incident, they said. The Jagannath temple has been closed for devotees till April 1 as a precautionary measure in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

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.