A day after twenty tourists, including women and children, were admitted to a local hospital and over hundred tourists were injured in Odisha’s Konark after a swarm of bees attacked them inside the world famous Sun Temple premises, the authorities today prohibited the entry of tourists into the temple.
The sale of tickets for entry to the temple was stopped today after the bee attack which continued today also.
Earlier in the day, the tourists went helter-skelter inside the campus and were to be evacuated. In view of the situation, the authorities have prohibited the entry of visitors to the temple till the bees abandon their hive.
Notably, a family of four foreign tourists and more than hundred others visiting Konark Sun Temple were attacked by bees yesterday.
According to reports, huge beehive near the Temple’s main entry gate, known as Hatidwar, was tempered with by a monkey yesterday afternoon. Angry bees swarmed the whole campus attacking the tourists who desperately ran for cover.
The bee attack saw the temple premises being completely vacated for more than half-an-hour. Senior Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) members who had come to visit the site also had to wait outside for quite a long time.
The tourists, temple authorities and even the photographers were terrified as no one was spared by their stings. The bees also attacked those outside the temple premises.
Notably, the temple authorities had informed the ASI about the presence of beehives in the premises and also apprised them of a similar incident in the past. However, no action was taken. This time, the ASI officials were themselves present when the bees attacked the visitors.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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