Tourists in Despair as Konark Temple Strike Continued Opposing Entry Fee Hike

KONARK: Konark Surakshya Samiti (Konark Security Committee), on Saturday, locked all the ticket counters, opposing the hiking of entry fees by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for Sun temple.

The Samiti locked all ticket counters of the Sun temple, yet again, on Saturday, said a source, demanding the cancellation of increased entry fees. The Samiti also mentioned that the lockdown would continue every now and then until their demands were met.

The source said, the Samiti had also planned to call strike all over Konark, which was later called off.

Interested visitors are requested not to plan to visit the Sun temple without prior information of the situation, as it would only bring disappointment.

Notably, entry fees for Konark temple has been increased to Rs. 30 from Rs. 10 for Indian nationals, and to Rs. 500 from Rs. 250 for foreign visitors.

Both National and International tourists had to return with great despair because of the Konark temple strike, who had come from different parts of the world, with high desire in their heart to see the marvellous sculptures of the 13th Century built Konark Sun Temple.

Notably, the union government had raised entry fees for 116 ASI managed monuments across the country with effect from 1st April 2016.

Puri district collector Aravind Agrawal had already said that the state government had nothing to do with the fee hike.