Puri has been put under a security blanket ahead of the inauguration ceremony of the Jagannath Heritage Corridor Project, which is scheduled for Wednesday, said the Odisha Police chief.
“On January 17, we are having the inauguration of Shree Mandir Parikrama (another name for Jagannath Heritage Corridor). We have made elaborate security arrangements,” Arun Kumar Sarangi, Odisha DGP, told ANI.
“We have the anti-sabotage team, the bomb-detection squad and the canine squad deployed. We have kept the area sanitised. Eighty platoons have been deployed in Puri,” he added.
Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the Jagannath Heritage Corridor project on January 17th. Ahead of the inauguration the CM on Monday appealed to people to light diyas, blow conch shells, offer prayers and perform kirtan on the day of the inauguration.
BJD MP Amar Patnaik said, “‘Shree Mandir Parikrama project will be inaugurated by CM (Naveen Patnaik) on January 17th. This project is a very unique project. What it does that it enhances the spiritual connection between the pilgrims and the Lord. It’s not that it was not there earlier, but what it does now is that the physical discomfort that the pilgrims used to face has been removed now. And now the pilgrims will get a kind of spiritual experience, which they have not experienced before. And this would also give them an opportunity to spend more time meditating or connecting with the lord, and that is the main purpose of this project…”
The Jagannath Heritage Corridor Project of Lord Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri has been completed by the Odisha Bridge & Construction Corporation (OBCC) and handed over to the temple administration Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA).
The Heritage project includes parking places, Shree Setu (a bridge), pilgrimage centres, a new road to facilitate the movement of pilgrims, toilets for male, and female devotees and servitors, clock rooms and electrical work with other visitors’ amenities.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the project while Puri Gajapati Maharaj Divyasingha Deb will give prunahuti (final offering) at the three-day-long yagna.
The corridor aims to enhance the visual appeal and surroundings of the iconic Jagannath Temple. The inauguration comes just five days ahead of the Ram temple coronation.
Jagannath Temple is one of the four dhammas that every Hindu is advised to visit. Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannath, along with sister Devi Subhadra and elder brother Mahaprabhu Shri Balabhadra, are worshipped in Puri (the Purusottama Kshetra).
Though no changes have been made in the temple, the area within the 75-metre corridor of the boundary wall of the Jagannath temple has been developed. (ANI)
