Puri, Jul 23: A woman devotee collapsed while waiting in a queue for darshan of Lord Jagannath at the Gundicha Temple on Thursday morning, reportedly due to intense heat and humidity. The incident occurred inside the barricaded queue area outside the temple, where large numbers of devotees had gathered.

Personnel of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) immediately rescued the woman and shifted her to the Puri District Hospital in an ambulance for treatment. Officials said the devotee is a resident of Bhubaneswar and had been standing in the queue since around 8 a.m. to have darshan of the deities.

With soaring temperatures and humid weather affecting devotees, the Fire Services Department has been sprinkling water on waiting pilgrims to provide relief from the heat.

Meanwhile, the district administration and police have completed elaborate preparations for the Bahuda Yatra, the return journey of the sibling deities, scheduled for Friday. A total of 205 platoons of police personnel will be deployed to ensure smooth crowd management and security. Traffic restrictions will come into effect from Thursday evening, and devotees have been urged to follow the traffic advisory issued by the police.

Evening darshan at the Gundicha Temple will continue until 6 p.m. on Thursday, after which it will be suspended to facilitate temple rituals. With the Bahuda Yatra on Friday followed by the Suna Besha ceremony the next day, police officials described the coming days as a major operational challenge. The Additional Director General of Police expressed hope that, with the blessings of Lord Jagannath, all three chariots would reach the Shree Jagannath Temple on Friday as scheduled