Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday inaugurated the Shree Mandira Parikrama Prakalpa (the heritage corridor project) of Sri Jagannath temple at Puri. The Parikrama Prakalpa, a beautiful infrastructure project matching with modern times, will facilitate the visit of increasing number of devotees to the temple.
This ceremony was preceded by long rituals. It was a special occasion for King of Puri Gajpati Dibyasingha Deb, considered the first servitor of Lord Jagannath, as many of his ancestors had never witnessed such an event.
Several ‘sankeertan’ troupes went around the Parikrama playing cymbals and mrudangas and reciting religious prayers. At the same time, Gajpati Dibyasingha Deb was accorded purna ahuti at the yajna which has been going on for three days to consecrate the place.
With the inauguration of Parikrama Prakapla, one of the dream projects of the chief minister has been realized. It would be perhaps the first time since independence that the Puri temple and its surroundings have got a massive face-lift, though the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has been maintaining the inner structures since 1974.
As part of the project, a one kilometre road named as ‘Sri Marg’ which runs parallel to Badadanda (Grand Road) has been built from Jagannathballav multilevel parking area to Simhadwar (Lion’s Gate) to minimise crowd density at Badadanda.
Patnaik observed that the centuries old major religious shrines in the state were lacking basic facilities like motorable roads, sanitation, shelters, toilets, drinking water even though the visitors’ number has considerably increased.
In his fifth term as the chief minister, Patnaik conceptualized the development of such religious places with special focus on Sri Jagannath temple as inflow of devotees to Puri has increased manifold and the entire Odishan culture centres around the Jagannath cult because Lord Jagannath is reigning deity of Odisha.
The chief minister had announced a comprehensive plan for the development of Puri, the district headquarters town, better known as the abode of Lord Jagannath, at an estimated cost of around Rs 4,000 crores. About 80 per cent of the plan have been completed and some are waiting for formal inauguration. These include two mega multilevel parking lots for 1,000 four-wheelers and an equal number of three and two-wheelers; three huge market complexes and a Jagannath Stadium.
