The Odisha government has banned the sale of liquor within a 2-km radius of the Jagannath temple in Puri, state law and excise minister Prithviraj Harichandan said on Monday.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the state also planned to ban the sale of meat along the 2.5-km Grand Road, or Bada Danda, where the idols of four deities are placed on chariots and pulled during the annual Rath Yatra, The Telegraph reported.

The road, which connects Jagannath temple to Gundicha temple, is lined with hundreds of hotels.

In a social media post on Monday, Harichandan said: “The government is taking several steps to make the world-famous Puri a pilgrimage or tourist city and to awaken the religious sentiments of the people.”

A day earlier, the minister said that the decision to enforce the ban was part of the state government’s broader initiative to preserve the sanctity of the holy town, PTI reported.

“There will be no liquor shop or bar on the Grand Road,” PTI quoted Harichandan as having said. “Besides, sale of meat…will also be banned on the Grand Road, which connects Jagannath temple to Gundicha temple.”

It was unclear when the ban will come into force.