Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday greeted people of his state on the occasion of Christmas.
He took to his twitter handle to wish the people of Odisha.
“Warm greetings and best wishes to all on this joyous occasion of #Christmas. May your lives be filled with happiness, peace and prosperity. #MerryChristmas,” read the tweet.
Warm greetings and best wishes to all on this joyous occasion of #Christmas. May your lives be filled with happiness, peace and prosperity.#MerryChristmas pic.twitter.com/RhWnYCzdXl
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) December 25, 2020
The prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation has significantly taken a bite out of the celebrations. The whole world is celebrating Christmas Friday, but in a restricted manner, devoid of any related activities.
Similar is the situation in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and in other parts of the state. At some places, church authorities have made do with little decoration.
According to the bishop at Satyanagar Church, a mass prayer was held starting at 7.30am. Then the Lord’s birthday celebration will continue till 12.30pm, albeit following all the guidelines issued by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).
“For smooth crowd management at the church, Bhubaneswar has been divided into different zones and 140 from each zone are being allowed into the church to offer prayers. The programme at the church is for five hours only. At the same time, there will be no cultural programmes today,” said the bishop.
On the other hand, the Unit-IV church has been completely closed down. Prayers and celebrations are underway in online mode.
When asked why they have closed down the church, the authorities here said the Christmas celebration is a big affair here every year with thousands of people thronging at this church. “This year the situation is different. Had we allowed celebration here, it would have been difficult for us to control the crowd. This is the reason why we have decided against opening the church December 24 and 25,” they added.
PNN